Digvijay Singh hopes Congress will revive its fortunes in Uttar Pradesh
New Delhi, Aug 28 (ANI)
Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Tuesday expressed hope that the ruling party at the Centre would perform exceptionally well in Uttar Pradesh in the near future.
Digvijay Singh, who was commenting on the likely appointment of veteran Congress leader Nirmal Khatri as the new Uttar Pradesh Congress chief said he expects the party to do exceptional work with proper coordination.
The Congress General Secretary also lauded the hard work put in by Rita Bahuguna Joshi in Uttar Pradesh.
"Rita Bahuguna has done very good work. I hope that the new chief (of Uttar Pradesh Congress) will also carry on the good work and we will together do an exceptional work," he said.
According to reports Congress leader Nirmal Khatri is likely to be appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress president, replacing Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who held the same post for five years.
Khatri said that if appointed to the post, he would strive to strengthen the party and interact with the public on an individual level.
"I would like to say that there has been no official announcement in connection with Uttar Pradesh. As a Congress party member, I feel that we should strengthen our party, which is like a family. After strengthening the party, we should move towards increasing public interaction," he said.
Khatri, 61, belongs to the traditional Vaish business community and is considered uncontroversial.
His stint with the Congress began as a Youth Congress worker in the 1970s. He was Youth Congress president in 1982, secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) between 2004 and 2010 and also minister of state in the state twice in the 1980s.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.
The Congress Party, which has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh since 1989, would now look to start afresh in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of legislators to the Parliament and is often considered to be one of the most important states with respect to Indian politics.
It may be recalled here that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi faced a major jolt after the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in which the party fared poorly in March this year.
The Congress Party was relegated to the fourth position with a tally of 28 seats despite Rahul Gandhi putting in his reputation by campaigning relentlessly for almost two months and holding 200 rallies across Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) won 224 seats of total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 state assembly polls.
Incumbent Bahujan Samaj Party was routed with 80 seats, while the BJP was placed in third spot with 46 seats.