Lucknow: Following appointment of Ajay Rai as Uttar Pradesh Congress President, the party high command is likely to appoint Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu as the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, sources said on Saturday. Sources within the Congress party said that the party high command is in the process of handing over the responsibility to an in-charge in Uttar Pradesh.
The names of several senior party leaders including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tarikh Anwar, Salman Khurshid and Nadeem Javed are under consideration. But Navjot Singh Sidhu, party sources said, is the frontrunner for the top post. Party sources said that Sidhu is very close to both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
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It is learnt that senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is also one of the candidates for the post of in-charge Uttar Pradesh. But Sidhu is being considered for the post under the party's strategy of elevating a leader belonging to a minority community. Party sources said that Navjot Singh Sidhu is the best fit for the party on two fronts.
Firstly, he is established as a well-known face in the country, sources said adding he also comes from minority community. Sidhu's apointment is expected by many in the Congress to fetch dividends in western Uttar Pradesh, especially in Terai districts which has a considerable Sikh population. Pertinently, Navjot Singh Sidhu had met UP Congress leader Ajay Rai in Varanasi.
A week of their meeting in Varanasi, Ajay Rai was made the UP state president by the party high command. Sources said that one of the major objectives of shifting Navjot Singh Sidhu from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh is part of the party's strategy to avoid an infighting. It may be noted that at the time of elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly, a war of words had broken out between Navjot Singh Sidhu and senior Congress leader of Punjab, Sunil Jakhar, who later joined the BJP.
