Ajay Maken appointed as new Congress treasurer, replaces Pawan Kumar Bansal

The Congress on Sunday appointed former Union minister Ajay Maken as the party's new treasurer. Maken, 59, a two-term Lok Sabha member and three-term legislator from Delhi, succeeds former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who served as the Congress treasurer after the passing away of Ahmed Patel in November 2020.

Along with such leaders as Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and the party's Madhya Pradesh in-charge Randeep Surjewala, Maken is considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and now occupies a key position in the party hierarchy. Maken quit as the party's Rajasthan in-charge in November 2022.

Maken served as a minister under Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, as the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, and later as a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh government. In the UPA 2 government, Maken was Minister of State for Home and later held the portfolios of Sports and Youth Affairs (independent charge) and Cabinet Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.