Lucknow: An internal rift within the Congress came to the fore at the party’s Uttar Pradesh Committee headquarters on Sunday, when a clash broke out between supporters of former State party President Ajay Rai and newly appointed State party President Aradhana Misra Mona during the swearing-in ceremony of the new leadership.
The altercation reportedly led to heated exchanges, pushing and shoving, and physical clashes among party workers, creating chaos at the state Congress headquarters.
The commotion continued for around half an hour, while a video purportedly showing the incident has been circulating widely on social media.
Ajay Rai arrived at the State Congress headquarters along with his supporters to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Aradhana Misra Mona as the new State party President and Imran Masood as the state unit Working President. During the proceedings, a disagreement reportedly arose between Rai and a woman party leader while they were engaged in a conversation.
Following the exchange, Rai allegedly left the office in anger. His supporters subsequently demanded that the woman leader be removed from her position and issue an apology.
They reportedly said that Rai would return to the state Congress office only after their demands were fulfilled.
Some people also alleged that women were treated indecently during the altercation. However, these allegations have not been independently verified.
Following the incident, former State Congress President Ajay Rai also alleged that he had been mistreated.
As the situation worsened, senior party leaders intervened to prevent the confrontation from escalating further.
Rajya Sabha members Pramod Tiwari and Imran Masood stepped in to bring the Congress workers under control and restore order at the party headquarters.
Aradhana Misra Mona also reportedly made efforts to pacify Ajay Rai and ease the tensions between the two sides.
Rai eventually returned to the state Congress office after Pramod Tiwari assured him that the matter would be addressed.
(IANS)
