Jaipur, Aug 7 (IANS) The Congress has reshuffled its team of AICC Secretaries attached to the General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, removing six incumbent office-bearers and appointing a new set of leaders.
Among those relieved of their responsibilities is Dheeraj Gurjar, a Rajasthan leader and known supporter of Sachin Pilot, who had been associated with the Uttar Pradesh unit for nearly seven years.
Replacing him is former Rajasthan MLA Jagdish Chandra Jangid, who is considered to be aligned with former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Jangid has been appointed as an AICC Secretary and attached to the General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. The newly-appointed AICC Secretaries for Uttar Pradesh include Jagdish Chandra Jangid, Abhishek Dutt, Kunal Chaudhary, Sanjeev Arya, Varun Chaudhary, and Abdul Mannan.
They replace Dheeraj Gurjar, Nilanshu Chaturvedi, Pradeep Narwal, Rajesh Tiwari, Satyanarayan Patel, and Tauqir Alam, who have been relieved of their assignments.
Dheeraj Gurjar was first appointed as an AICC Secretary in 2019 during Rahul Gandhi's tenure as Congress President. He initially worked with Jyotiraditya Scindia, the then party's General Secretary in charge of Western Uttar Pradesh.
Following subsequent organisational changes, Gurjar was attached to Priyanka Gandhi and continued to hold responsibilities in Uttar Pradesh. His assignment was retained even after Mallikarjun Kharge became Congress President, with the party reappointing him as a Co-in-charge Secretary for Uttar Pradesh in 2024.
Among the six AICC Secretaries previously assigned to Uttar Pradesh, Gurjar was the only leader from Rajasthan. With Jangid's appointment, Rajasthan continues to have representation in the party's Uttar Pradesh organisational structure, although through a different leader.
Political observers believe that apart from Gurjar's long tenure in the state, evolving organisational and political considerations may have influenced the reshuffle.
A former Congress MLA from the Jahazpur Assembly constituency in Bhilwara district, Dheeraj Gurjar is regarded as a close associate of Priyanka Gandhi and is identified with the Sachin Pilot camp within the Rajasthan Congress.
He began his political career through the NSUI and the Youth Congress before entering mainstream electoral politics.
Jagdish Chandra Jangid, a former Congress MLA from Sadulshahar, is considered one of the prominent OBC leaders in the Rajasthan Congress. A graduate of Delhi's St. Stephen's College and a lawyer by profession, he is widely regarded as being aligned with the Ashok Gehlot camp.
His appointment as an AICC Secretary with responsibility for Uttar Pradesh is being viewed as part of the Congress leadership's effort to strengthen its organisational structure while also projecting a prominent OBC face in key political assignments, said sources.
--IANS
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