Lucknow, June 28 -- Months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Congress has made a significant political move by appointing Dalit leader and former Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam as its General Secretary and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh.
Gautam replaces Brahmin leader Avinash Pandey. The appointment is being viewed not merely as a routine organisational reshuffle but as a strategic attempt by the Congress to strengthen its outreach among Dalits and other marginalised communities in the state.
The Congress leadership believes that the BJP's increasing focus on upper-caste voters has created an opportunity to regain support among Dalits, who formed the party's core vote base until the late 1980s before shifting largely to t...