Sonia Gandhi constitutes new team following Ambika Soni's resignation from Cong. Posts

New Delhi [India], July 22 (ANI): Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appointed former union minister Sushil Shinde and Ranjeet Ranjan as general secretary in-charge and secretary All India Congress Committee (AICC) respectively for Himachal Pradesh. Senior leader Ambika Soni had day before requested to be relieved from her responsibility as in-charge of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand due to reasons of health. She will continue as general secretary AICC of Jammu and Kashmir. Gandhi has also constituted a team of Observers for Odisha and the team will jointly work with AICC general secretary and secretary in-charge of state to assess the political situation. The team of observers constituted for Odisha will include Tamrdhwaj Sahu, Sushmita Dev and Jitendra Singh. The team will submit the joint report to the Congress president at the end of their visit. Sonia Gandhi has appointed Ruchi Gupta as joint secretary of the AICC. On July 21, senior leader Ambika Soni on Friday quit from all party posts. "I've requested leadership to relieve me as in-charge of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to health reasons," Soni told ANI. In her political career spanning over a time period of 50 years, Soni held various posts. From 2006 to 2009, Soni served as the Minister of Tourism and Minister of Culture. She held the portfolio of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry from 2009 to 2012. She was re-elected to Rajya Sabha in July 2010. (ANI)