Aradhana Misra Mona’s tenure as Uttar Pradesh Congress chief began with shoes flying through the air in Lucknow. On October 11, 2026, supporters of outgoing chief Ajay Rai clashed violently with those backing Mona during her installation ceremony at the state headquarters. The video, which quickly went viral, shows workers throwing slippers and engaging in a physical standoff, forcing senior leaders to intervene to prevent a full-blown brawl.
The tension wasn't accidental. Rai, who served as chief since August 2023, had been replaced by Mona in a move that sparked speculation about the party’s alliance strategy with the Samajwadi Party. Rai, a Bhumihaar, was swapped for Mona, a Brahmin, a demographic shift that critics argue was designed to smooth over alliance frictions. During the chaos, Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari, Mona’s father, and UP working president Imran Masood physically stepped in to separate the groups. Rai temporarily left the office after a verbal exchange but returned after Tiwari assured him that the leadership would take action against those responsible for the insult.
Mamta Choudhary, chief of the party’s Madhya Pradesh women’s wing, also attended the event and came under verbal attack. "We are feeling very disheartened," Choudhary said, reflecting the low morale among party workers. The incident serves as a stark contrast to the BJP’s narrative, with the BJP SC Morcha tweeting that Congress workers are "busy fighting one another" instead of preparing for elections. While Mona downplayed the ruckus, calling herself an "ordinary party cadre" committed to taking the party to "new heights," the visual evidence suggests a leadership crisis brewing well before the 2027 polls.
The stakes are high. Congress has been out of power in UP since 1989. In the 2022 assembly elections, the party managed to win only two of the 403 seats, missing out on even its traditional strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli. With the 2027 elections approaching, this internal fracturing could further erode voter confidence. The next test for Mona will be containing this internal dissent while attempting to rebuild the party’s ground game in a state where it has no corporate power for over three decades.