Rahul Gandhi, Kharge meet Delhi Congress leaders; key appointments on agenda

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi held a crucial meeting with the party’s Delhi unit on Wednesday, making way for several key appointments to be announced soon, party officials said. The meeting came soon after the notification of the GNCTD (Amendment) Act as law — the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) demand for support had been a contentious point between the AAP and the Congress following the first meeting of the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties at Patna in June, this year. Wednesday’s meeting paved the way for several key appointments in the Delhi unit of the Congress party which have “been pending for some time” and followed similar meetings which had taken place over the past few days. Senior party leaders, including Ajay Maken, Haroon Yusuf, Krishna Tirath and Sandeep Dikshit, were present at the meeting along with other leaders. “In view of the Lok Sabha elections, a consultation was held with the leaders of Delhi Congress today. Innovation of @INCDelhi is our priority, in which participation of all leaders and workers is necessary. We had made Delhi prosperous and happy, our struggle for the people of Delhi continues even further,” Kharge said. “There was a similar meeting on Monday; the views of the state leadership are being recorded before naming the new president of the Delhi unit,” a senior leader said. The Congress had, in June, appointed Deepak Babaria, one of the party’s senior leaders from Gujarat, as the in-charge of Delhi and Haryana. Babaria has since undertaken a slew of meetings with leaders representing each of the seven Lok Sabha segments of the national capital, collecting feedback and suggestions from party representatives. “The Congress Working Committee is expected to be announced this week following which the Delhi Congress president is likely to be announced,” a party official said.