Rajesh, 56, is a second-term MLA from Kutumba constituency in Aurangabad district. He has replaced Rajya Sabha MP and former Union minister Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
बिहार प्रदेश कांग्रेस के नवनियुक्त अध्यक्ष श्री @rajeshkrinc जी को नई जिम्मेदारी के लिए बहुत बहुत बधाई और शुभकामनाएं।
निवर्तमान प्रदेश कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष डॉ @akhileshPdsingh जी के बतौर प्रदेश अध्यक्ष अतुलनीय योगदान के लिए कांग्रेस परिवार आभार प्रकट करती है। pic.twitter.com/BJI1Stvinh
— Bihar Congress (@INCBihar) March 18, 2025
Kumar won the 2020 election by 16,653 votes defeating Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha’s (HAM) Sharwan Bhuiya. He was elected from the seat in 2015 as well.
Bihar has a 20% Dalit population. A Bihar leader told Indian Express, “It is a good appointment because Kumar is a good speaker and is young. He can take the party forward at this crucial time.”
“Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Rajesh Kumar as the president of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect”, a statement issued by the party said.
The move is aimed at the party’s aggressive stance to reach out to the deprived castes, making use of Rahul Gandhi’s twin planks of “samvidhan bachao (save the Constitution)” and the demand for a nationwide caste census. Also, Singh was believed closer to ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
In February, the party appointed Krishna Allavaru as the new AICC in charge of Bihar. Allavaru, a young and aggressive technocrat, replaced the seasoned Mohan Prakash.
NDA leaders like Union Minister Chirag Paswan have been noting the change in Congress’s stance of the Congress. Also, the party have voiced that it may prefer to go it alone if the RJD tried to extract too much for itself in the seat-sharing arrangement.
In the 2020 state elections, the Congress won 19 out of 70 contested seats with a vote share of 9.48%. The NDA had emerged victorious in the state with 125 seats in the 243-member Assembly.
The party will hold meetings with its district unit presidents from across the country for three days on March 27, 28, and April 3 in three batches at the Indira Gandhi Bhawan. The meeting comes ahead of its AICC session in Ahmedabad on April 8 and 9.
#WATCH दिल्ली: AICC महासचिवों और राज्य प्रभारियों की बैठक के बाद कांग्रेस सांसद जयराम रमेश ने कहा, “आज बैठक में AICC अधिवेशन पर लंबी चर्चा हुई, जो 8 और 9 अप्रैल को अहमदाबाद में होने जा रहा है। 8 अप्रैल को अहमदाबाद में ही कांग्रेस कार्यसमिति की बैठक होगी और 9 तारीख को AICC का… pic.twitter.com/fgc4Z5coIK
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) March 18, 2025
With inputs from PTI
