Shoes, slogans and a succession: A costly handover for Congress in Lucknow

Sunday, October 11, was meant to be a tidy changing of the guard at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) headquarters in Lucknow. Instead, it exposed the cost of a decision many in the party believe was made at the wrong time, and the damage may last well beyond one afternoon.

The Congress appointed Aradhana Mishra "Mona", a three-time MLA from Rampur Khas, as UPCC president on October 2, replacing Ajay Rai. Saharanpur MP Imran Masood was named working president, with Devender Nishad and Alok Prasad as senior vice presidents.

A CHANGE AT THE WRONG MOMENT

Mona's assumption of office was first set for October 12, but a mass Congress protest planned for that day moved it a day earlier.

Mona's credentials are not the issue. She has represented Rampur Khas since 2014 and led the party in the Assembly from 2019 until her elevation. Senior MP and her father, Pramod Tiwari, spoke of her journey from panchayat member to state chief and called her a fourth-generation Congress loyalist.

The issue is the timing. Rai had led the state unit since August 2023, three full years of travelling the districts, working with local units and learning where the party is strong and where it is weak. That knowledge of the state's present political mood cannot be passed on in a handover ceremony. Replacing him just months before the Assembly elections means the party gives up its most up-to-date understanding of Uttar Pradesh at the moment it needs it most.

WHY THE ARGUMENT AGAINST IT IS WRONG?

Uttar Pradesh rewards organisation built over years, not months. A new chief has to learn the districts, win the trust of ticket aspirants and rebuild working relationships, all while the election clock runs. Every week spent on that is a week not spent on the campaign.

A Congress MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the deeper worry plainly. In his view, the decision will do serious harm, because no state chief will be willing to spend energy and resources on the organisation if he knows that, in the end, none of it will count. The message to future office-holders is that effort carries no guarantee of continuity, however hard they work.

SHOES IN THE HEADQUARTERS

The ceremony was overshadowed by a clash between rival camps. A Congress councillor, Mamta Chaudhary, made a remark about Rai that his supporters took badly, and abuse was exchanged from both sides. The argument soon turned into a physical fight, with shoes thrown between the two groups. Rai initially decided to leave, but after Masood and Mona intervened, he returned and formally handed over charge. Mona's first press conference was delayed by about an hour.

Rai afterwards raised the matter with leaders present there, including Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari, new PCC Chief Aradhana Misra 'Mona' and Saharanpur MP Imran Masood, and demanded that Chaudhary be expelled. No action against her has been reported so far.

The UPCC General secretary and party's candidate from Itwa in the 2022 Assembly elections, commented on the tractate, saying, "Ajay Rai ji is our senior leader and whatever happened was completely unfortunate, though I am sure that the party will take necessary action."

THE DANGER OF INACTION

If that remains the case, the consequences could be severe. A leader who spent three years building the state organisation was disrespected in the very building where he had worked, on the day he was handing over charge. If the party lets that pass without consequence, workers will conclude that service to the Congress earns no protection and that public disrespect of a senior leader carries no price.

The damage would not stay with Rai or his supporters. Every worker watching would ask what the party's loyalty is worth, and the answer would shape how hard they work for the Congress in the coming months. A party heading into an election cannot afford to look as though it neither values the people who built its machinery nor protects them from public insult.

Acting against Chaudhary would not be about one councillor. It would be about showing that discipline and respect still count in the organisation.

Masood, now Mona's deputy, played the episode down. Such things happen in any large party, he said, and he described Rai as one of the most energetic and hardworking state presidents the Congress has had. The tribute is fair. But praising Rai in words while leaving the insult to him unanswered will not reassure those who feel he deserved better.

THE DANGER OF ACTION

Yet action is not free of risk either, and the leadership will know it. Chaudhary is a woman and a Dalit councillor, and she is widely seen as close to the new state president. Expelling or even disciplining her would hand opponents a ready-made narrative that the Congress punished a Dalit woman for a verbal spat. In a state where Dalit votes carry real weight, and where rival parties are quick to question the Congress's commitment to the community, that perception could cost more than the original incident itself.

There is also the matter of Mona's own position. Acting against someone seen as in her camp, on the very day she takes charge, would look to some like she is being forced to sacrifice her own people to settle a score for her predecessor. Not acting, on the other hand, would look like favouritism. Whichever way she moves, she has to do it carefully.

WHAT LIES AHEAD

Mona has said her priority is to honour the trust placed in her by workers and the leadership while working towards forming a government in Uttar Pradesh in 2027. It is an ambitious goal, and it will depend on how she handles her first test. Three things are worth watching:

* Whether the leadership acts against Chaudhary, or lets the matter fade.

* Whether Rai stays an active part of the campaign or withdraws. A former chief with a loyal following can be an asset or a source of constant friction.

* Whether Mona can rebuild unity quickly enough to make up for the time lost in transition.

Mona has the experience and the party's backing. What she lacks is time, and the decision to replace a chief who knew the state well has made that scarcer. How the party answers the events in Lucknow will say a great deal about whether it is serious about winning in 2027.