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Congress leader Nirmal Khatri has been appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress president, replacing Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who held the post for five years. Khatri said that his aim would be to strengthen his party and interact with the public on an individual level. "I would like to say that there has been no official announcement in connection with Uttar Pradesh. So, I would not comment regarding any post. As a Congress party member, I feel that we should strengthen our party, which is like a family. After strengthening the party, we should move towards increasing public interaction," he said. Commenting on the drubbing that the party got in the Uttar Pradesh legislative polls, Khatri said they needed to infuse new life and translate numbers into votes. "We are unable to translate numbers into votes. We need to bring about a change and infuse new life. There is no lack of leadership. However, we need to motivate them and strengthen the relations on an individual level," he said. Meanwhile, Rita Bahuguna Joshi welcomed the decision taken by the party high command, adding that Khatri's experience would come to good use in strengthening the party. "I welcome the decision taken by party high command. Nirmal Khatri is an experienced politician and senior leader in Uttar Pradesh. He is a lawmaker from Faizabad; he has been a minister and held important posts in several organisations like NSUI, Youth Congress, Sewa Dal. I believe that his experience will help to strengthen our party and prove to be useful. I congratulate him and hope to form our government here in 2014," Joshi said. Khatri, 61, belongs to the traditional Vaish business community and is considered uncontroversial. His stint with the Congress began as a Youth Congress worker in the 1970s. He was Youth Congress president in 1982, secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) between 2004 and 2010 and also minister of state in the state twice in the 1980s. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 after former prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.

Nirmal Khatri is Uttar Pradesh Congress president