Who's Avinash Pande, Congress' UP in-charge who replaced Priyanka Gandhi?

Avinash Pande has taken charge from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the Congress’ general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh following a major organisational rejig in the party on Saturday.

Taking to social media platform X, Pande expressed his gratitude to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for his appointment as party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. “With boundless gratitude for the confidence placed in me by INC India President Kharge ji, Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi ji, our leader Rahul Gandhi ji, and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal ji, and with an unswerving resolve to honour that trust, I humbly accept the appointment as the General Secretary Incharge of Uttar Pradesh,” he tweeted.

The 65-year-old leader served as a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra from 2010 to 2016. He fought elections to enter the Upper House in 2008 too, but lost to industrialist Rahul Bajaj by just one vote. He was also a member of the party's highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Before this appointment, he was the party in-charge of Jharkhand.

Hailing from Nagpur, he was earlier a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council and also a member of several administrative committees in the state. The seasoned politician started his career in the late 1970s with Congress’ student wing, NSUI. He later rose through the ranks of Youth Congress before joining the Maharashtra unit of Congress. Pande holds a Master’s degree in economics and public administration and is also a lawyer by profession.

Before the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, he was appointed as the party in-charge of the state. However, during the high-pitched tussle between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot, he was removed from the post. In January 2022, he was appointed as the AICC general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand.