Congress appoints Patel as party treasurer ahead of 2019 LS Polls.

New Delhi: Ahead of the ensuing 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress President has appointed Ahmed Patel as the new treasurer of the party replacing Motilal Vora.

The Gujarat MP had earlier been in the post of treasurer and also worked as the political secretary of former party chief Sonia Gandhi.

A statement by the Congress also said that Anand Sharma has been appointed as the chairperson of the party's foreign affairs department replacing Karan Singh.

Former speaker Meira Kumar has entered the highest decision-making body of the party- Congress Working Committee.

Luizinho Salerio has been appointed as the party's general secretary in-charge of north-eastern states, excluding Assam. The post was earlier held by CP Joshi.

A month earlier Rahul Gandhi had formed the CWC. The new committee excluded some of the party veterans like Digvijay Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, and Janardan Dwivedi.

The appointment of Ahmed Patel is being perceived as an attempt by the party to consolidate a coordination between the old and new forces. The new Congress Working Committee has 23 members, 19 permanent invitees and 9 special invitees including veterans like Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma, A K Antony and Kumari Selja.