Shaktisinh Gohil, a Rajya Sabha member and prominent Congress leader, took over as the new Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president. He succeeds current president Jagdish Thakor in the new post. After bowing down to Mahatma Gandhi and seeking Bapu’s blessings, Gohil took out an impressive padyatra from Sabarmati Ashram to the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Paldi which is the Gujarat Congress headquarters. Gohil had been a minister when the state had a Congress government. He has also served as the Congress in-charge for various states as well as the party’s national spokesperson.
After the Congress debacle in the December 2022 assembly elections, when the party registered its lowest tally of seats, the Congress was looking for new leadership in the state. A party statement said Gohil has been relieved of duties as AICC in-charge of Haryana and Delhi with senior Gujarat leader Deepak Babariya appointed in his place.
Gohil, 63, served as a minister in the cabinet from 1992 to 1995 while serving as an MLA for Gujarat for four terms. He also served as chief whip of the Congress legislature party between 1995 and 1998 and the leader of opposition in the Gujarat assembly from 2008 to 2012.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in June 2020. The BJP romped to a win in the 2022 assembly elections with a massive 156 seats out of the total of 182, while the Congress won just 17, AAP got five and others won four seats.
In the previous two Lok Sabha elections, the party failed to gain a single seat in Gujarat, hence Gohil confronts a monumental challenge to turn around the party's fortunes before the general election in 2024.