Sonia appoints Bansal as party's interim treasurer

New Delhi: In an attempt to fill the void created after the sudden demise of Congress' veteran leader Ahmed Patel, the party on Saturday appointed former Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Kumar Bansal as the interim treasurer of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The post fell vacant after the demise of Patel, who was sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat.

A four-time Lok Sabha MP from Chandigarh, Pawan Kumar Bansal also served one term as a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab. In addition, Bansal has also served as a national spokesperson of the AICC and chairman of the party's research & reference cell in the past. "Congress president has assigned the additional responsibility of AICC treasurer to Pawan Kumar Bansal, in-charge administration, as an interim measure to look after the duties of treasurer with immediate effect," a statement from AICC general secretary Organisation KC Venugopal said.

The 72-year-old Bansal has also handled the Minister of State (MoS) portfolio in Parliamentary Affairs, Finance and Water resources ministries during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure. Bansal, who was made the Railways Minister in UPA-2, had resigned from the post in 2013 after his nephew was accused in a bribery case.

Responding to his appointment as AICC treasurer, Bansal said, "I thank Congress president Sonia Gandhi ji and Rahul ji for posing faith in me and discharging the duty with full responsibility shall be my endeavour."

Bansal's predecessor Ahmed Patel served as the AICC treasurer from August 2018 till his untimely demise on November 25.