Congress appoints Amrinder Singh Raja Brar Indian Youth Congress chief
New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi chose Punjab MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Brar to lead the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and revive the fighting spirit in this frontal organisation in “Modi raj” across the country.
The 37-year-old MLA, representing the Gidderbaha Assembly seat in Punjab, has been chosen at a time when the Congress has been losing elections after elections while its frontal organisations have either remain defunct or of no use in the electoral battle against the BJP and regional parties.
Interestingly, the former Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, who has won the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat against the BJP heavyweight, is the deputy leader of the party in the Lower House. But he was hardly seen active in the House during the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament.
The appointments of Mr Brar and Capt. Amarinder Singh show how the AICC is relying on the Punjab leaders to recover the party from the defeats.
“Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the name of Amrinder Singh Raja Brar, MLA (Punjab), as president of Indian Youth Congress with immediate effect,” AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement on Thursday.
Recently, Mrs Gandhi appointed new PCC presidents for Assam and Orissa. But a decision about replacing the PCC chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat is still in the pipeline.
Amrinder Singh Raja Brar has replaced Mr Rajeev Satav, sitting Lok Sabha member from Hingoli in Maharashtra, as the president of IYC.
Mr Brar, who mostly uses surname “Warring” after his village name, has been a Youth Congress general secretary and held positions in the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee as well.
He said his immediate priority would be to strengthen the organisation by enrolling youth in large numbers from booth level onwards and “expose” the failures of the BJP-led Central government by holding protests and other programmes.
“I will strive to infuse a new lease of life into the organisation,” he said, adding he was among the first “elected” office-bearers of the Youth Congress after Rahul Gandhi started the election process.
“I or my family had no link with politics. But Rahul’s drive motivated me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Satav tweeted “I thank Hon. Congress President Soniaji & Hon. Congress VP Rahulji 4 entrusting me with the IYC President’s responsibility for last 5 yrs.
Congratulations to Shri Amrinder Singh Raja Brar for being appointed as the new IYC President. I wish him good luck,” he said.
