Congress abruptly replaces Ajay Rai as state chief in poll-bound UP

In UP, Ajay Rai was abruptly replaced by Mishra while Saharanpur MP Imran Masood was named working president.

LUCKNOW/CHANDIGARH: Congress overhauled its PCC brass in two poll-bound states Friday, installing Rampur Khas MLA Aradhana “Mona” Mishra as the UP unit chief and hockey Olympian Pargat Singh as state president in Punjab, with each pick engineered around caste arithmetic ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.In UP, Ajay Rai was abruptly replaced by Mishra while Saharanpur MP Imran Masood was named working president. The pairing brings together a Brahmin face from eastern UP and a Muslim with influence in the west, striking a caste-regional balance the party rounded out by appointing Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Dalit, as state in-charge.Mishra (52), CLP chief in the UP assembly since 2019 and daughter of Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari, is considered close to the central brass. She entered the assembly through a 2014 bypoll and retained Rampur Khas in 2017 and 2022, having earlier served as block pramukh of Sangramgarh from 2002 to 2014.Mishra’s rapport with SP as seat-sharing talks gather pace is seen as a significant factor in the party making its choice. “Unlike Ajay Rai, Mishra has maintained an amicable equation with the SP brass. Her being the face of the state Congress could make coordination between the two parties smoother,” a source said, though the two INDIA bloc partners are yet to settle their 2027 arrangement.In Punjab, the choice of Pargat Singh, who captained India at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, came within hours of Amarinder Singh Raja Warring handing his resignation as state chief to Rahul Gandhi. Warring congratulated Pargat, as did former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, whose supporters had revolted against the outgoing chief.Struggling to contain factionalism, the party settled on a Jat Sikh face acceptable to both camps. Pargat (61) was seen with the Channi camp during the July-Aug crisis but pushed for consensus and direct talks with the party brass. A three-time MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment, Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee, he was picked over former minister Vijay Inder Singla and former Speaker Rana KP Singh.Pargat’s appointment followed an organisational assessment by the new Punjab in-charge Sachin Pilot.