Ahead of UP elections, Congress appoints Raj Babbar as its UP chief

New Delhi: Congress leader Raj Babbar was on Tuesday appointed as the party's Uttar Pradesh chief. The decision was announced by Ghulam Nabi Azad here at a press briefing. The actor turned politician has replaced Dr. Nirmal Khatri. Babbar had unsuccessfully contested against Gen. V. K. Singh (Retd.) of BJP from Ghaziabad in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. There is a speculation that the grand old party would project Sheila Dikshit as the chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress, which is making all efforts to re-establish its political stronghold in Uttar Pradesh in the assembly polls, managed to win just two seats of Gandhi family bastion of Amethi and Rae Bareilly in the general election.