JOIN US Signalling a generational shift, the Congress on Monday named young dalit leader Ashok Tanwar as the president of the Haryana unit of the party. It also named Murshidabad strongman and Mamata Banerjee baiter Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the chief of the West Bengal unit.
V M Sudheeran was named president of the Kerala unit with young leader V D Satheesan as his deputy.
Satheesan, hand-picked by Rahul Gandhi, had impressed the Congress leadership with his brief speech at the All India Congress Committee meeting in Delhi last month.
The appointment of the 37-year-old Tanwar is a signal that the Congress vice-president had prevailed over the objections raised by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Tanwar’s name was finalised in January but had to be put on the back burner following resistance from the old guard.
Tanwar succeeds Phoolchand Mulana, also a dalit and a close associate of Hooda.
A Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa (SC) seat, Tanwar is a known Rahul Gandhi loyalist. Tanwar’s appointment follows former Union minister Selja’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha, which was seen as a setback for Hooda who wanted Mulana or incumbent MP Ram Prakash to occupy Haryana’s lone Upper House berth.
DH News Service