Congress sets up 3 new regional cells

In an attempt to reach out to different communities, the Congress has set up the Poorvanchali, Parvartiya and South Indian Committees in the national capital. A year after the dissolution of its Delhi state unit, the Congress officially announced the names of all its 14 district presidents in the city.

While preparing the list of district presidents, the party has reportedly taken due care to give representation to almost all sections of the society. The party is also said to have finalised the names of its 280-block presidents, which are likely to be made public by the end of this month. The post of the block presidents has assumed immense significance in the Congress as majority of those selected are likely to be fielded by the party in the 2017 municipal elections.

The delay in the finalisation of the names of district and block heads was primarily being attributed to the party’s crushing defeat in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The party had even failed to open its account in both the elections. A senior party leader said that the entire exercise of selecting the new heads had been done after taking into account various parameters which are necessary for any leader to head any wing.

Of the 14 district presidents, the party has retained only four of its former leaders. Among the ones who have again been cleared for the post of district presidents are Mr Surinder Pal Singh for Karawal Nagar, Mr Laxman Rawat for Patparganj, Mr Madan Korwal for Karol Bagh and Mr Inderjeet Singh for Rohini. While Mr Singh belongs to the Sikh community, Mr Rawat is from the hills, Mr Korwal is the SC and Mr Singh is from Jat community.

A party insider said that local leader Mirza Usman has been appointed as the head of the Chandni Chowk district.

Other new district presidents are Harikishan Jindal of Vaish community for Adarsh Nagar, former MLA Beesham Sharma (Brahmin) for Babarpur, Mr Sunil Vohra of Punjabi community for Krishna Nagar, municipal councillor Virender Kasana of Gurjar community for New Delhi, Mr Surinder Kumar (SC) for Kirari, Mr Pradeep Sharma, a Punjabi Pundit, for Tilak Nagar, Mr Om Dutt Yadav (OBC) for Najafgarh, Mr Rajesh Chauhan (SC) for Mehrauli and former legislator Ram Singh Netaji of Gurjar community for Badarpur.

Those who have been replaced are Mr Javed Ali for Chandni Chowk, Mr Mukesh Goyal from Adarsh Nagar, Ms Razia Sultana from Babarpur, Mr Chaudhary Ajit Singh from Krishna Nagar, Mr Neeraj Basoya from New Delhi, Mr Sadhu Ram Mittal from Kirari, Mr P.S. Bawa from Tilak Nagar, ex-councillor Jai Kishan Sharma from Najafgarh, Mr Rajbir Singh Yadav from Mehrauli and former MP Sajjan Kumar’s son Jag Parvesh from Badarpur.