In his first major organisational appointments, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has named G-23 leader Ahilesh Prasad Singh as Bihar president and found replacements for Ajay Maken, PL Punia and Vivek Bansal as General Secretaries and state in-charges by bringing in Kumari Selja, Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa and Shaktisinh Gohil in their place.
The appointments were announced on Monday late night with Randhawa replacing Maken, who had last month expressed his “inability and unwillingness” to continue as Rajasthan in-charge as he was upset over no action being taken against Ashok Gehlot loyalists who virtually sabotaged a meeting of Congress Legislature Party in Jaipur.
Randhawa, a prominent leader from Punjab, has also been nominated to the Steering Committee. Selja, who is considered close to former party chief Sonia Gandhi and a Congress Working Committee member, has been appointed General Secretary and given charge of Chhattisgarh, which will be going to polls late next year along with Rajasthan.
Gohil, who is also in-charge of Delhi, has been given charge of Haryana also. “The party appreciates the contributions of Ajay Maken, PL Punia and Vivek Bansal and relieves them from their current responsibilities as General Secretary and Incharges of their respective states,” a party statement said. Bansal’s role has come under scanner after Maken lost the Rajya Sabha elections from Haryana.
Gurdeep Singh Sappal, who is also one of the four AICC coordinators in party president’s office, has been appointed as administration in-charge attached with treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP who belongs to the upper caste Bhumihar, was appointed Bihar Congress president in place of Madan Mohan Jha, a Bihar MLC. His appointment is seen as a reconciliation with the now redundant G-23, which sought clarity on leadership and party’s organisational issues.
A former RJD MP who is close Lalu Prasad, Singh was one of the signatories of the letter written by a group of 23 leaders, who were later known as G-23 or change-seekers, to Sonia that was critical of the way the party was going ahead.
With the exit of leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda getting his way in Haryana Congress appointments, the group lost its heft. In the party presidential election, the group did not support Shashi Tharoor, a fellow letter writer, and came out in public for Kharge’s election.