New Delhi: Congress leader Ajay Maken has been appointed as the party’s new chief in Delhi, sources have said. An official announcement to this effect is likely to be made on Sunday by PC Chacko, the party in charge of Delhi.
Ajay Maken, who’s was the party’s face in the recently held Delhi elections, had lost the assembly elections. Owing moral responsibility for the election results where Congress had drawn a blank, he had offered to resign. He was also criticised by former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for the party’s poor performance.
AICC general secretary P.C. Chacko is likely to announce the appointment of Mr Maken as the chief of the Delhi Congress on Sunday. The Congress faced historical defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections as it failed to win a single seat this time after ruling the city for three terms till December 2013.
According to sources in the Congress party, Mr Maken is close to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his appointment as the new Delhi PCC chief is a result of the organisational change which Mr Gandhi has been trying to bring about.
Recently, Gandhi’s decision to go on a vacation just before the Budget Session of Parliament had created a lot of buzz in the political circles. According to the sources, Mr Gandhi wants to have full control of the Congress party to bring about changes and when he was denied that, he went on a leave.
Maken was face of the Delhi elections and we lost badly. After such an embarrassing defeat, how can he be given such an important role when practically, we have to start from a scratch. He has failed in both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls, then why has he been chosen?,” asked a senior Delhi Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
But the party, indicating a clear generational shift in Delhi politics, had now given him the task of rebuilding the party in Delhi. Mr Maken, who’s part of Team Rahul Gandhi, is likely to be relieved of his present post of being the party’s media chief.
Bureau Report
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