REPORTING RIDDLE

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's appointment as Assam screening committee chairperson for the coming assembly poll has exposed an unusual hierarchical knot within the Congress.

- Kaushik Deka with Avishek G. Dastidar, Kavitha Muralidharan, Rohit Parihar and Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Going by the organisational protocol, the screening panel works with the Pradesh Congress Committee to finalise candidate lists, reports to the AICC state in-charge, who in turn accedes to the AICC general secretary (organisation). In Assam, this places Priyanka working alongside Gaurav Gogoi, jointly reporting to Jitendra Singh, who then reports to K.C. Venugopal. Muddling matters further, they will all be monitored by 'senior observers' Bhupesh Baghel and D.K. Shivakumar. Within the party, this has triggered some unease: will a Gandhi family member adhere to this chain of command? Or maybe this is a way to insulate her from criticism in the eventuality that the Congress fails to fire.

BROKEN LAUNDROMAT TURNCOATS IN TROUBLE