'Will Strengthen Alliance With Samajwadi Party': New UP Congress Chief Aradhana Misra

The Congress has attempted to cover all its caste bases in Uttar Pradesh with its latest organisational reshuffle, including the appointment of a new chief of the state unit. Aradhana Misra alias Mona, the brand-new UP Congress president, thus comes as a key figure in its calculations for the polls due in about six months. The party has sought to hit three birds with one stone with a clutch of appointments. She represents two massive vote banks -- women and Brahmins -- and has a rapport with Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav.

Misra, daughter of Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, will have the onerous task of advancing seat-sharing talks with Yadav's party for the upcoming assembly elections. Her party wants a larger chunk of seats; SP is not ready to relent, arguing it is in a more robust position to stop the BJP juggernaut. That a few politicians from both sides have been sniping at each other only makes her task more difficult.

Asked about her views on Akhilesh Yadav, she said, "The Samajwadi Party is a partner of ours in the INDIA bloc, and a strong one at that. The way Akhilesh Yadav has strengthened his party is very good."

Referring to the alliance's performance in the Lok Sabha polls in UP, she said the same alliance would prevent the BJP from winning its fourth assembly polls in a row. "In 2024, the BJP, which was sweeping the country and giving the slogan of '400 paar', was stopped on this land of Uttar Pradesh. The INDIA bloc stopped it. So, I would say that this alliance is strong and effective. And we will see its results in 2027. And we will take this alliance forward with full strength," she added. The INDIA bloc won 43 of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2024. 

Apart from three-time MLA Mona Misra, the Congress named Rajya Sabha MP Imran Masood the working president, Chaudhary Virendra Singh as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, and Devinder Nishad and Alok Prasad as senior vice presidents of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC). This means a Brahmin is now the UP unit president, a Muslim is the working president, and Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Dalit, is the AICC in-charge of the state.

She, however, said the party has never played the politics of caste and religion.

"The Congress has never played the politics of caste, religion and community, nor will it ever do so in the future. It wants to make this country strong, wants to strengthen it, wants to protect the Constitution. And this is the reason why the Congress has always received everyone's support. And I have complete faith that with this strong team, we will become a strong alternative in 2027," she said.

Her father, Pramod Tiwari, said she has the ability to lead. "And she has an unbreakable faith in her country. I have complete faith that the responsibility entrusted to her will be fulfilled," he said.