New Delhi: For nearly two decades, the Congress party relied on a small group of around six leaders to revive the organisation in Uttar Pradesh and improve its electoral fortunes. But senior leaders like Jiten Prasad, Sanjay Singh, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Nirmal Khatri, Salman Khurshid and Raj Babbar failed to deliver. In the April-May Lok Sabha elections, the party suffered a complete rout in the state and was left with a single MP — interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
After the disastrous performance, the party looked beyond this ‘elite’ bunch to find a leader with a more rooted, pro-poor image.
On Monday, the Congress’ search ended with two-time MLA from Tamkuhi Raj, Ajay Kumar Lallu, who was named the party’s Uttar Pradesh president.
Lallu will now work towards setting up a new organisational base for the party in UP, in association with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary (in-charge, Uttar Pradesh east).
Sources said former party chief Rahul Gandhi played a big role in the appointment of Lallu.
Ordinary Congress workers are happy with the fact that the high command has learnt its lessons and given the responsibility to rebuild the organisation to a ground-based leader.
Several Congress leaders told ThePrint that this decision will help immensely in reinvigorating the state unit.
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Lallu’s early struggle
Lallu, the 40-year-old MLA from Tamkuhi Raj in Kushinagar district, has been in active politics since his post-graduation in political science from Kishan PG College, Kushinagar, in 2001.
During college, he contested the student union elections but succeeded only in the second attempt. Following this, he remained connected with social causes and also participated in agitations and protests.
Speaking to ThePrint, Lallu said he decided to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly polls for the first time in 2007. With no party ready to give him a ticket, he fought as an Independent but ended up losing even his deposit.
Belonging to an agrarian family, Lallu said his economic conditions weren’t too good at the time. He then moved to Delhi and got a construction job in Noida. As part of his job, he often had to help labourers in lifting heavy items like iron rods.
After spending eight months in the job, Lallu returned home. However, this time the villagers in his Tamkuhi Raj constituency stopped him from moving back to Noida and asked him to re-enter politics.
The rise
Back in the grind, Lallu again started to raise issues related to the common people of Tamkuhi Raj. He held several agitations and protests and was also jailed.
In 2012, the Congress gave him a ticket to contest the assembly elections. Finally, he managed to defeat the BJP candidate by a margin of over 5,000 votes. He was re-elected in 2017 and chosen to lead Congress’ legislative party.
His quick rise continued with appointments to the screening committees for the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.
In June this year, a month after the general elections, Lallu noted his growing prominence in the party when Rahul Gandhi ‘followed’ his account on Twitter.
मैं धन्यवाद देना चाहुंगा हमारे नेता,प्रेरणास्रोत काँग्रेस अध्यक्ष आदरणीय श्री राहुल गांधी जी का जिन्होंने आज टि्वटर पर मुझे फॉलो किया। कॉंग्रेस पार्टी के कार्यकर्ता के रूप आम-आवाम की लड़ाई को पूरी निरंतरता व मज़बूती से लड़ने की कोशिश करूंगा ॥@RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/s4AXI2uavb
— Ajay Kumar Lallu (@AjayLalluINC) June 23, 2019
The very next day, he was appointed in-charge of the party’s UP east unit.
Now, sources said, Gandhi’s counsel has played a big role in his sister Priyanka’s decision to pick Lallu as the most important member of her team.
With internal strife still plaguing the party, Lallu said he is fully prepared for the new responsibility and will try his best to retain the faith that the high command has expressed in him.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi has taken a backseat, but his team is running Congress show