The selection of Ajay Maken as Congress treasurer demonstrates Rahul Gandhi's clout.

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The nomination of Ajay Maken as the Congress' treasurer, a position as significant as the general secretary-organisation (GSO), demonstrates the power that former party president Rahul Gandhi possesses over Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The current GSOs, K.C. Venugopal and Maken, are ardent supporters of Rahul Gandhi. Randeep Surjewala, general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, completes the trio.

Maken's nomination might be the first in a succession of appointments that are expected as part of an organizational overhaul. "We talked about ways to strengthen the party and organization." "I wish him a fruitful tenure," Kharge wrote on X on Monday after Maken visited him at his official house. Last November, Maken resigned from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and the AICC in-charge of Rajasthan after failing to mediate the leadership spat between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. When Kharge announced the new CWC on August 20, the former Delhi Congress head was reinstated as a member and named treasurer. However, the long-awaited reorganization or redesignation of organizational duties appears to have been postponed. There is suspicion that one of the reasons for the delay is the difficulty in finding a suitable post for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was formerly in charge of Uttar Pradesh. Opinions differ on whether she should manage one state or serve as a star campaigner across many states. With the Lok Sabha election only six months away, Kharge will soon have to name a team to prepare the State units for fight.