POLITICS
From NSUI to AICC treasurer: Twists turns in political career of Gandhi family loyalist Ajay Maken
- Admin
- Oct 04, 2023
From NSUI to AICC treasurer: Twists turns in political career of Gandhi family loyalist Ajay Maken
Ajay Maken's appointment as treasurer of the Congress, a position second only to AICC president, has further strengthened the Gandhis' grip on the party, say Congress insiders.
Congress leader Ajay Maken has lost Lok Sabha elections, missed a Rajya Sabha seat due to internal party politics, and quit as general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan last year when the leadership refused to act against rebellious state leaders. However, one of the lowest moments in Maken’s political career may have been when he became the youngest speaker of the Delhi assembly in 2003 at age 39.
“It was a time when he was a rising star in the Congress circles. He was a three-time MLA. He’d been a minister in the Delhi government and AICC (All India Congress Committee) secretary. He was considered second in command to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Being made speaker after that was like retiring him,” said a source close to Maken.
The move, which has the seal of the Gandhis, may have been a year in the making, sources say. They claim it was even planned before Mallikarjun Kharge was elected Congress president.
With this appointment, Maken, a third-generation politician and considered a close confidant of the Gandhis, joins a prestigious list of Congress leaders who’ve held this role before him, including Sitaram Kesri, Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel, and Motilal Vohra.
In a way, it brings his political journey full circle.
In 1984, he was appointed as the treasurer of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Congress’s student wing. The next four decades spanned student politics in Delhi University, navigating the capital’s power corridors under and against Sheila Dikshit, and serving as minister in the UPA government. But though Maken may have been down several times, he was never out.
The move, which has the seal of the Gandhis, may have been a year in the making, sources say. They claim it was even planned before Mallikarjun Kharge was elected Congress president.
With this appointment, Maken, a third-generation politician and considered a close confidant of the Gandhis, joins a prestigious list of Congress leaders who’ve held this role before him, including Sitaram Kesri, Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel, and Motilal Vohra.
In a way, it brings his political journey full circle.
In 1984, he was appointed as the treasurer of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Congress’s student wing. The next four decades spanned student politics in Delhi University, navigating the capital’s power corridors under and against Sheila Dikshit, and serving as minister in the UPA government. But though Maken may have been down several times, he was never out.
