The Congress on Tuesday appointed actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar as the party chief in election-bound Uttar Pradesh.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has appointed Raj Babbar as new Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief," announced Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi here at a press conference.

Raj Babbar will replace Nirmal Khatri, who has now been appointed chairperson of the Screening Committee.

Meanwhile, Imran Masood, Rajaram Pal and Rajesh Mishra and Bhagwati Prasad Chaudhary have been appointed Vice Presidents of the Uttar Pradesh Congress committee.

Imran Masood is the son of senior Congress leader Rashid Masood. Imran is a controversial Muslim leader who had threatened to chop into pieces Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Congress General Secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was also present at the briefing, refused to announce the party’s chief ministerial face in Uttar Pradesh.

Raj Babbar, a three-term Lok Sabha MP, is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1994. He is also spokesperson of the party.

Born on June 23, 1952, Raj Babbar acted in more than 150 films and 30 plays. He received the ‘Yash Bharti’ honour from the Uttar Pradesh government.