New Delhi: Ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress on Friday named Rajendra Pal Gautam as the new Congress In-charge for the state, said a statement issued by All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary K.C. Venugopal.
Gautam replaces Ajay Kumar Lallu for the key assignment in the BJP-ruled state whose voters are scheduled to elect 403 new members of the legislative Assembly around April 2027. In the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had won only two seats.
The Congress also appointed new AICC In-charges for Odisha and Haryana.
The note signed by Venugopal said, “Hon’ble Congress President has appointed the following party functionaries as AICC In-charges of the following states, with immediate effect. Sanjay Dutt (Haryana); Lalji Desai (Odisha), and Rajendra Pal Gautam (Uttar Pradesh).”
“The party appreciates the contributions of the following outgoing General Secretary/In-charges: Avinash Pande, B.K. Hariprasad and Ajay Kumar Lallu,” said Venugopal.
The appointment of a new AICC In-charge in Uttar Pradesh comes at a time when the party has highlighted the alleged “bungling” in Ayodhya Ram Temple donations and large-scale financial irregularities in matters related to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.
At a recent press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai and the UP Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhana Mishra had claimed that funds donated by devotees and assets linked to the Ram temple project had been mismanaged, and called for a thorough audit of the trust’s functioning.
Rai said that an SIT constituted to examine the matter was inadequate and not time-bound, and questioned the appointment of controversial officials in the investigation team.
He demanded that the inquiry be completed within 7 to 10 days and monitored by a sitting High Court judge.
He alleged that irregularities had occurred at multiple stages, including donation collection, land transactions and management of offerings made by devotees, claiming that the issue involved a “systematic” and “organised” misuse of resources.
(IANS)
