Congress names Kamal Nath as chairman

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Ahead of the crucial Assembly polls, the Congress on Tuesday named former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath as chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee for the state, with senior party leaders Digvijay Singh and Govind Singh as its members.

In an official comminication, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said: "Congress President (Mallikarjun Kharge) has approved the proposal for the constitution of Pradesh Election Committee for ensuing Assembly Elections in Madhya Pradesh-2023 with immediate effect."

The other members of the Committee are Suresh Pachauri, Kantilal Bhuria, Arun Yadav, Ajay Singh Rahul, Vivek Tankha, Rajmani Patel, Nakul Nath, Sajjan Singh Verma, Vijaylaxmi Sadho, Tarun Bhanot, Omkar Singh Markam, Sukhdeo Panse, Bala Bacchan, Jitu Patwari, Kamleshwar Patel, Arif Masood, as well as state heads of all frontal organisations.

Earlier in the day, the Congress had announced former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria as chairman of the party's campaign committee for Madhya Pradesh.

On Monday, the Congress had appointed party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala as senior election observer and Chandrakant Handore as observer for Madhya Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due later this year.

The Congress is looking to come back to power in the state after it fell out of power due to rebellion by former party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his 22 MLAs switching to the BJP.

Like Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the Congress has already kicked off its poll campaign in the state and also announced five guarantees to the people of the state.