Congress forms new UP unit chief for next Parliament elections

Congress is likely to contest the next Parliament elections with a new UP unit chief as the party brass has decided to shift Raj Babbar with some other responsibility. 

Sources in the state Congress confirmed that a quick change was on the card. Recently Babbar had tried to re-organise UP Congress Committee as well as district and city units and approached part brass in Delhi but his selection was turned down. Babbar was asked to wait for a decision in the matter. 

“Rahul Gandhi wanted that the new UPCC team as well as district and city teams would be selected by the new UPCC chief so that he could ensure a fruitful run in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll for the party,” revealed a former MP hailing from eastern UP. 

“Babbar was given enough time but he failed to show his organizational skill as state Congress chief. In fact, in Babbar’s tenure, the Congress in UP touched a new low with just 2 seats in Parliamentand merely 7 seats in the state Assembly,”he said. 

The leader further claimed that Rahul wanted to bring in new faces from Uttar Pradesh, most likely from Brahmin caste so that not just the votes of the segment could be attracted but the organisation could work with full efficiency and win maximum seats in 2019 general elections. The Congress leader opined that the decision to remove Babbar would also benefit the party as Babbar had `star attraction’ and could be more useful in the campaigning process or handle party affairs in the media. 

Another senior Congress leader claimed that a change in UPCC was necessary as the organisation was almost defunct in UP as 

Babbar was bringing in non-political persons to run the organisation. 

He said that while the organisation was presently managed by four leaders,  the media committee formed by Babbar had almost all new faces with no experience to handle party issues particularly in television debates. 

“What was more damaging is that uncertainty loomed over whether Babbar would continue as stateCongress chief or be replaced beforfethe Lok Sabha polls,” he said.