The Congress high command has taken a key decision aimed at reviving the party in Uttar Pradesh. The UP Congress Committee (UPCC) has appointed senior MLA Aradhana Mishra Mona as the new president. Similarly, Saharanpur MP Imran Masood has been appointed as the working president. The party announced on Friday evening that these appointments will come into effect with immediate effect.

Aradhana Mishra will replace the current president Ajay Rai. She is a three-time MLA from Rampur Khas constituency in Pratapgarh district. Aradhana, the daughter of senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari, is known to be a close aide of Priyanka Gandhi. Political analysts believe that the party is trying to impress the Brahmin community voters by giving her a key post.

Imran Masood, known as a strong Muslim leader in western UP, won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Saharanpur. With his appointment, the Congress is planning to bring the Muslim vote bank back to the party. Along with them, Devinder Nishad and Alok Prasad have been appointed as senior vice-presidents and Chaudhary Virendra Singh as the leader of the Legislative Party (CLP). Aradhana Mishra, who was the CLP leader till now, has stepped down from those responsibilities.

It is clear that the Congress is targeting social integration behind these appointments. By appointing Aradhana, who belongs to the Brahmin community, as the president and Muslim leader Imran Masood as the working president, it is looking to strengthen the Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit vote bank that once supported it. Analyses are emerging that having a leader from the Dalit community as the state in-charge is also part of this strategy. Party sources expect that these changes will also help in alliances and seat-sharing talks with the Samajwadi Party.

Currently, the Congress has only two MLAs in the UP Assembly. It is understood that these organizational changes are aimed at strengthening the party at the grassroots level and preparing it to give a tough competition to the ruling party by the 2027 Assembly elections.