Babbar is new UP Congress chief; Boti-Boti man Masood turns VP

New Delhi: In a rather surprise move, the Congress on Tuesday appointed senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raj Babbar as the new president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. Imraan Masood, Rajesh Mishra and Rajaram Pal have been appointed as the vice presidents of the UPCC.

Congress has welcomed criticism from the opposition BJP by promoting Imran Masood, who has several criminal charges against him.

Masood, during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, had threatened to "chop" Narendra Modi, the then BJP's PM face, into pieces. He was also jailed for his hate speech.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra launched an attack over the Congress by saying, “So Congress rewards the "Boti-Boti" man of Uttar Pradesh Imran Masood with the post of UPPC Vice President!Reflects the mind set of Congress.”

However, a decision in this regard was taken by the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi after a meeting which was held at the residence of UPCC in-charge Gulam Nabi Azad. The meeting was also attended by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Gulam Nabi Azad and Sonia Gandhi.

Raj Babbar appointed new Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President.

— INC India (@INCIndia) July 12, 2016

The announcement of the party chief for Uttar Pradesh has come after Nirmal Khatri tendered his resignation from the post.

Talking to Newztrack.com, Babbar said, “I want to thank the party high command for showing faith in me.” When asked about his further strategies, he said, “I will meet the party workers and will put all my efforts for the betterment of the party."

The names of Jitin Prasad, Pramod Tiwari and rajesh Mishra were doing rounds before speculations were put to rest by the party.

आशा करते हैं श्री राज बब्बर के कुशल नेतृत्व में उत्तर प्रदेश अपने पुराने गौरवमयी मुकाम को फिर से हासिल करेगा। pic.twitter.com/2COaEbenDf

— INC India (@INCIndia) 12 July 2016

The newly-appointed party strategist Prashant Kishor has been believed to have given his consent for the change of guard in order to give beleaguered Congress the image makeover ahead of the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.