Congress seeks to rebuild UP base with Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit-EBC social coalition

Ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress is working on a strategy to rebuild its organisation and a social coalition of Brahmins, Muslims, Dalits and extremely backward classes, if the latest organisational reshuffle in the state is any indication. The Congress on Friday appointed Aradhana Mishra 'Mona' as state president and MP Imran Masood as working president. While Mona is a Brahmin, Masood is a Muslim. The party also appointed Devendra Nishad, from the extremely backward fishing community, and Dalit leader Alok Prasad as senior vice-presidents of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. Political analysts see the appointments and the efforts to bring leaders from different social groups into the party as part of a broader strategy to rebuild its organisation and electoral base in the state. Dr Syed Jamal Ahmed, an All India Congress Committee member and former general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Congress, said the party stands for taking along people from all sections of society and claimed that there is growing public expectation from its leadership. He also claimed that several leaders from different communities, including Brahmins, minorities, extremely backward classes and Dalits, are likely to join the Congress in the near future. The party's efforts to expand its political base were evident on Saturday when Apna Janata Party president and former minister Swami Prasad Maurya held talks with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on joining the INDIA bloc, while eight-time former MLA from Mathura's Mant constituency Shyam Sunder Sharma returned to the Congress. Maurya said in a post on X that he had a "positive discussion" with Gandhi on contesting the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections together under the INDIA bloc. The Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit also announced Sharma's return to the party, describing him as a prominent political figure of Mathura and an eight-time former MLA. Sharma joined the Congress in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, party general secretary and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in-charge Syed Naseer Hussain and former Union minister Rajeev Shukla at the party's Delhi office. Maurya, who has served as a minister in governments led by both the BJP and BSP, had allied with the Samajwadi Party for the 2022 Assembly elections. He later resigned from the Legislative Council amid differences with the party (SP) and formed his own Apna Janata Party. Sharma has considerable organisational experience. A former Congress leader, he first won the Mant Assembly seat on a Congress ticket in 1989 and was re-elected in 1991 and 1993. He later remained associated with the Loktantrik Congress, Trinamool Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party. The Congress said Sharma's return would strengthen the party not only in Mathura but across western Uttar Pradesh. The state unit also said that more than 114 prominent leaders and office-bearers from different parties joined the Congress on Saturday in the presence of Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Pal Gautam. Among those who joined were former Bahraich municipal chairman Haji Rehan Khan Arhti, senior OBC leader Ramveer Chaudhary, former AAP North East Lok Sabha in-charge Mehboob Malik and Delhi unit Ansari community leader Nasir Ansari.