New Delhi: In a major reshuffle, the Congress president appointed its old warhorse Ahmed Patel as the treasurer of the party on Tuesday. Mr Patel, who turned 69 on Tuesday, was earlier the political secretary of former party chief Sonia Gandhi. He had earlier served as the AICC treasurer from 1996 to 2000. He replaces Motilal Vora who is 89 years old and has been given the responsibility of general secretary, administration. The appointment shows the importance of Mr Patel in the Congress’ scheme of things. This appointment before all crucial elections indicates that when it comes to a crunch, the party has to rely on old warhorses. Mr Patel is presently a member of the Congress Working Committee and a Rajya Sabha MP.
Murmurs had started within the Congress when Rahul Gandhi was made the president in December last year over the role of Mr Patel. Now it is clear that he still is a close backroom aide of both the Congress president and the UPA chief.
At a time when the Congress is facing a fun-d crunch before the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the role of Mr Patel will be crucial for the party.
Former Union minister Anand Sharma has been appointed as the chairperson of the party’s foreign affairs department, replacing former Rajya Sabha MP Dr Karan Singh.
Former speaker Meira Kumar has been made a permanent invitee to the CWC.
Luizinho Faleiro has been appointed as AICC general secretary in-charge of the northeastern states, except Assam. He replaces C.P. Joshi, who ceases tobe the party general secretary.
The changes come a month after Congress president restructured the party and dropped veterans such as Digvijay Singh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Janardhan Dwivedi and Mr Joshi from the all-powerful CWC and appointed some new faces in their place.
