Congress appoints Ajay Maken as general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, constitutes 3-member committee

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Ajay Maken as the General Secretary in-charge of Rajasthan. Maken will replace Avinash Pandey with immediate effect, according to the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Sachin Pilot, on Maken's appointment, took to micro-blogging site Twitter to congratulate him. He wrote, "Your appointment will definitely boost the expectations of Rajasthan Congress workers."

Gandhi also constituted a three-member committee of Ahmed Patel, KC Venugopal (AICC General Secretary in-charge Organisation), and Ajay Maken to oversee and ensure the smooth resolution of recent issues in Rajasthan.

"Hon'ble Congress President has constituted a three-member committee as follows to oversee and follow up the smooth resolution of recent issues in Rajasthan. The members of the committee are Ahmed Patel, AICC General Secretary, in charge, Organisation and AICC General Secretary, in charge, Rajasthan," read a press release from the AICC.

This comes two days after the Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan won vote of confidence in the state Assembly on August 14 by voice vote. "In the entire state, there is a wave of happiness. I consider it a win for the people of Rajasthan. Now we have to work together to fight COVID-19," Gehlot had told reporters.

Congress MLAs were seen showing victory sign after winning the confidence motion in the State Assembly on Friday.

The two factions in the Congress-led by Gehlot and Pilot had come together ahead of the Assembly session.

Pilot had the support of 18 other MLAs. He was removed as Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan Congress chief last month after his differences with Gehlot came out in open triggering a political crisis in the state. Pilot was miffed after the SOG sent him a notice to record his statement in a case of alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the state.