‘Aukaat mein baat karo’: Who is the Dalit woman leader at centre of UP Congress row?

On October 11, an alleged confrontation at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters in Lucknow brought Mahila Congress leader Mamta Choudhary and former state party chief Ajay Rai into a face-off, with the former alleging that she and other women workers were mistreated by Rai’s supporters.

According to party leaders, the incident took place before new state president Aradhana Misra and newly appointed working president Imran Masood arrived at the office to formally take charge. Choudhary alleged that women workers were targeted when Rai arrived with his supporters.

Videos that surfaced on Monday purportedly showed Choudhary, president of the state Mahila Congress’s central zone, allegedly saying she did not wish to see Rai’s face, after which Rai was heard telling her to “remain within her limits (aukaat mein baat karo)”.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Monday, the 47-year-old claimed she had been objecting to women workers being pushed and was not addressing Rai directly when the exchange began. “I was not instigating anyone. I was not even talking to him,” she said, adding that she could not understand why the exchange escalated.

“If I had said something wrong, you are a senior leader, you could have reprimanded me. But what was the need to get shoes and slippers thrown at us?” she said.

Terming the incident an attack on Dalits and women, Choudhary said she expected the party’s senior leadership to act against those responsible. “I have faith in the Congress. Women’s dignity is respected here. A few wrong people bring a bad name to the party,” she said.

The confrontation has brought Choudhary into focus at a time when the Congress is preparing for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. A Dalit leader, she has spent nearly two decades in the party’s city organisation.

Lucknow corporator to Mahila Congress leader

Choudhary entered politics in 2006, contesting the Lucknow Municipal Corporation election from Malviya Nagar. She has since been elected corporator for four consecutive terms and served as the Congress leader in the municipal corporation’s House in 2017 and 2023.

She was among the candidates hand-picked by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as part of the “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon” campaign in the run up to the 2022 Assembly elections.

She contested from the reserved Mohanlalganj constituency, securing 2,990 votes. A year after the Assembly elections, she was appointed president of the Mahila Congress’s central zone in Uttar Pradesh.

Choudhary said she belongs to an old Congress family from Unnao, while Lucknow is her marital home. She studied at the Indian School in Bahrain and pursued a degree in English at DAV PG College.

Congress leaders who have worked with her said she gradually rose through the organisation and became known for speaking her mind. They described her outspokenness as a defining feature of her political career.

Tensions amid organisational uncertainty

Her tenure in the Mahila Congress, however, has coincided with organisational uncertainty. The committee was dissolved last year, but no new president has been appointed. Party insiders said the vacancy has also contributed to friction between Choudhary and Rai.

In connection with Sunday’s incident, the All India Congress Committee has constituted a fact-finding committee headed by former UP Congress president Brijlal Khabri, a prominent Dalit leader, to investigate the incident. Khabri, a former BSP leader, told The Indian Express that the committee would submit its report within a week.