Lucknow: Weeks after his futile bid to meet BSP chief Mayawati, Congress SC department chief, Rajendra Pal Gautam, was on Friday appointed the All-India Congress Committee in charge for UP.The order was issued by party general secretary KC Venugopal. Gautam replaces Avinash Pande, who took the role in Dec 2023.The appointment is being viewed as part of the grand old party’s attempt to sharpen its outreach among Dalits and other socially disadvantaged communities.A lawyer by profession, Gautam first came to prominence as an Ambedkarite activist before joining the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014.He was elected twice from Delhi’s Seemapuri Assembly constituency and served as a cabinet minister in the Arvind Kejriwal govt. In 2022, he resigned from the Delhi Cabinet following a controversy over his participation in a Buddhist conversion event.Gautam then joined the Congress and was appointed chairman of the AICC’s Scheduled Caste Department in 2025.He became a known name in UP’s political canvas in May last month when he knocked on the door of BSP President Mayawati’s residence, located at a stone’s throw distance from the UP Congress party office.But the Dalit neta refused to give an audience and left him embarrassed. A showcause notice was also issued to him thereafter. Thereafter, he picked up Dalit and Pasi leaders, academia and persons significant in the community and took them for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi.His elevation now places him at the centre of the Congress’s efforts to consolidate the non-Jatav Dalits who are crucial to the electoral caste matrix. However, some old-timers aren’t too pleased with Gautam’s elevation, calling it too fast.Stating that “Gautam’s audacity has paid him off well,” party workers said “the entire spectacle now appears to be a scripted venture to position him in UP before the 2027 state elections.”Speaking to TOI, Gautam said: “I am grateful to the party leadership for giving me this responsibility. I will work with dedication along with people from all walks of life to strengthen the organisation in Uttar Pradesh.”Outlining his priorities, Gautam said the Congress would work to bring together “people from all walks of life who have suffered under BJP govts”. Accusing the BJP of pursuing “bulldozer politics,” he alleged that its “short-sighted policies” and “ignorance of the challenges faced by common people” alienated large sections of society.
