Congress replaces Haryana’s Ajay Singh as OBC head ahead of Bihar election

The Congress has appointed Dr Anil Jaihind Kumar Yadav as the chairman of its OBC wing, replacing Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, a veteran party leader from Haryana. Dr Yadav, a social activist from Bihar, will lead the party’s efforts to engage with backward class communities in the state ahead of the upcoming 243-seat Bihar Assembly election. The Congress has been focusing on winning over backward class voters, traditionally a stronghold of Nitish Kumar’s JDU and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. To further this goal, the party recently appointed Rajesh Kumar as its state chief, aiming to attract Dalit voters.

Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, Dr Yadav’s predecessor, is a senior Congress leader from south Haryana, having served six terms as MLA from Rewari and held key cabinet positions, including finance and power minister, in previous Congress governments in Haryana. However, Singh has been critical of the party leadership, especially after the recent assembly elections in Haryana, where his son Chiranjeev Rao lost his seat. Last year, Singh resigned from the party, citing “shabby treatment” by the leadership and alleged mismanagement during the polls, but later rejoined, stating he’s a “Congressman by birth” and will remain so “till his last breath”.

Singh had previously stated that the grand old party needs to reflect on its poor performance in southern Haryana, particularly in areas like Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendragarh, and Faridabad, where it secured only one seat compared to the BJP’s 10 seats.