Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appointed B.V. Srinivas as the Youth Congress president, an appointment being seen as a reward to hard work instead of networking and nepotism.

Srinivas had accidentally got the chance to head the Youth Congress as interim president in 2019 August because incumbent Keshav Chand Yadav had to suddenly resign because of a controversy.

The young man from Karnataka grabbed the opportunity and compelled the party leadership to regularise his appointment by his dedication to public welfare and hard work.
His work among the poor during the pandemic and lockdown impressed party leaders.

He was seen helping stranded people with food and transport almost round the clock.

Even now, the Youth Congress under his leadership is engaged in distributing eatables and cooked food to farmers at the Delhi-Haryana border.

Though he speaks Hindi with difficulty and is not known for his cerebral capabilities, his passion for social service and capacity to work among the people tirelessly helped him earn this post.

Sources revealed that Krishna Allavaru, the Congress joint secretary who looked after Youth Congress, had developed differences with Srinivas and didn’t favour his continuance.

However, the leadership was aware of the negative message that his exit will send out and decided to appoint him full-fledged president.

Srinivas is the only second Youth Congress chief from the south in the history; the first being Ramesh Chennithala from Kerala.

The party usually favoured Hindi-speaking youth from north India to lead the youth wing. Among the illustrious names to head the Youth Congress in the past are: Sanjay Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and Tariq Anwar.