New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Sunday appointed former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh, replacing Digvijaya Singh, while Gaurav Gogoi is the new in charge of West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar.

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The changes were made by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and have come into force with immediate effect.

Reacting to his new responsibility, Chandy said, "I was appointed due to my vast experience and I am confident of bringing back Congress to Andhra Pradesh."

A party release, announcing the change, said that the "party appreciates the hard work and contribution of Digvijaya Singh, who will be stepping down from his responsibility as AICC General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh". 

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who was last year removed as General Secretary in charge of Telangana and divested of the charge of Goa and Karnataka where he was replaced by A Chella Kumar and KC Venugopal respectively, is expected to play a bigger role in the party's preparations for the assembly elections in his home state later this year.

The party statement commended the contribution of CP Joshi, who was so far in charge of West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.