Jaipur, Oct 23 (IANS): Rajasthan Revenue Minister Harish Chaudhary on Friday was appointed the Congress in-charge of Punjab and Chandigarh.

General Secretary, Organisation K.C. Venugopal issued this order appointing Chaudhury, who becomes the second minister in the Ashok Gehlot government to be given a key organisational post. A few days back, state Health Minister Raghu Sharma was made Congress' in-charge of Gujarat. Former Union Minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, who also hails from the state, is the Assam in-charge.

Chaudhary succeeds senior party leader Harish Rawat, who had sought to relinquish charge so as to concentrate on home state Uttarakhand, where polls are also due next year.

Chaudhary has been quite active in Punjab since the time the Navjot Singh Siddhu controversy started till the removal of Captain Amarinder Singh. He had expressed his desire to work in the organisation too. There were discussions in the Congress to make him in-charge for a long time.

Sources said that there are possibilities that under the rule of one person one post in Rajasthan government, during the next cabinet reshuffle, Chaudhary and Sharma will be divested of their ministerial responsibilities to concentrate on their party roles.