Congress appoints Brijlal Khabri as UP unit chief, names six regional heads

The Congress on Saturday appointed Dalit leader Brijlal Khabri as its Uttar Pradesh unit chief and named six regional chiefs as part of efforts to revive its fortunes in the politically crucial state ahead of the 2024 general elections.

The appointments come months after Ajay Lallu resigned as the state unit chief following the party's crushing defeat in the 2022 Assembly polls.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed Khabri, a former BSP leader, as the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president, along with naming Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Ajai Rai, Virendra Chaudhary, Nakul Dubey, Anil Yadav and Yogesh Dixit as regional chiefs in the state unit, a party statement said.

Party sources said that as part of its strategy to strengthen the organisation, the UP Congress has divided the entire state into six parts -- Paschim, Braj, Awadh, Bundelkhand, Prayag and Purvanchal -- on a politico-cultural basis.

National Secretaries have already been posted in every zone by party general secretary