Congress District Chief Post Open to All, Says Patel

Five Popular Names to Be Sent to Delhi on September 14

Key Points:

• Congress observer confirms no caste or religion-based reservation
• Five most popular candidates’ names to be submitted to Delhi leaders
• Fifty-two aspirants collected nomination forms on the first day

JAMSHEDPUR – The post of Congress district president is not reserved for any caste, religion, or group, according to party observer and Gujarat MLA Anant Patel.

Patel explained that earlier appointments were directly announced from the top. However, the current selection is part of the organization creation campaign. This time, the district president will be the person most supported by workers and leaders.

Patel said he has started meeting party leaders individually. He will also visit all 18 blocks to know members’ preferences. From these consultations, five names will be shortlisted in order of popularity. He confirmed that the list will be submitted in New Delhi on September 14 to Rahul Gandhi and state in-charge Raju.

He informed that he will remain in the district until September 7 in the first phase. He will then leave for two days before returning again. During his presence, party workers are free to file their claims.

The observer clarified that only those who have been members for five years can contest. They must be dedicated to party ideology and be acceptable across senior leaders, NSUI, Youth Congress, and different social groups. “Caste and religion will not be factors this time,” Patel stressed.

District in-charge Baljit Singh Bedi and Sundari Tirkey were also present at the press conference.

Meanwhile, Patel met hundreds of party members from morning till late evening. Nearly 2,500 people spoke to him regarding organizational issues and shared their preferences for district chief.

On the first day, 52 workers collected application forms for the post. The first among them was current president Anand Bihari Dubey. Others included Rajkishore Yadav, Rakesh Kumar Tiwari, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Tapas Chatterjee, Bijay Yadav, Prince Singh, Maulana Ansar Khan, Akhilesh Singh Yadav, Amar Kumar Mishra, Sanatan Bhakt, Manoj Kumar Singh, Aparna Guha, Somen Mandal, Syed Zabih Ullah, Dr. Paritosh Singh, Nalini Sinha, Anup Mishra (Jyoti), Usha Singh, Shahnawaz Ahmad, Pappu Shukla, Sanat Chakravarty, Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Sanjay Yadav, Firoz Khan, Krishn Kant Shukla, Syed Md. Naushad, Tanveer Dehjhad Khan, Samanto Kumar, Atul Gupta, S.D. Singh, Reyaz Khan, Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava, Shamsher Alam, Dharmendra Sonkar, Shekhar Kumar, Rahul Kumar (Raja Singh Rajput), Sultan Ahmad, Gurdeep Singh, Jaswant Singh, Sunita Ojha, Abhishek Kumar Singh, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Qamar Raza Khan, Shailendra Kumar Singh, Safi Ahmad Khan, Mahendra Kumar Pandey, Rajiv Mishra, Uday Kumar Singh, Rakesh Sahu, and Ranjit Jha.

By the afternoon, Anand Bihari Dubey, Prince Singh, Maulana Ansar Khan, and Tapas Chatterjee had already submitted their applications.