Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday appointed Ajay Maken the party's treasurer in place of Pawan Bansal, signalling the trust the Gandhi family has in the former Union minister and general secretary.

Maken, who exited as general secretary in charge of Rajasthan under unseemly circumstances, continued to enjoy the confidence of Rahul Gandhi despite his strong anti-AAP stance even after the formation of the Opposition alliance INDIA. He was expected to get a key assignment ahead of the 2024 general elections and he finally took the post that was once held by the all-powerful Ahmed Patel.

With this post, Maken now reenters the inner coterie of the leadership with K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh. There was speculation about Maken returning as Delhi Congress chief but that option was ruled out with the central leadership opting for Arvinder Singh Lovely. The Congress obviously preferred a leader for Delhi who was soft on the AAP.