Congress appoints Aradhana Misra as Uttar Pradesh unit chief

The Congress has appointed Aradhana Misra Mona as president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, months before the State’s Assembly elections. The party announced the change on Friday, replacing Ajay Rai, who had led the Uttar Pradesh unit for more than three years. Imran Masood, the Lok Sabha member from Saharanpur, was appointed working president.

Devinder Nishad and Alok Prasad were named senior vice-presidents. The party also approved the appointment of Chaudhary Virendra Singh as leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Uttar Pradesh, with immediate effect. Misra is a three-time MLA from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh district and the daughter of senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha deputy leader Pramod Tiwari.

Her appointment was described in the report as part of an effort to build a social coalition involving Brahmin, Muslim and Dalit communities. Masood, who comes from western Uttar Pradesh, won the Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat in 2024 by more than 60,000 votes. The report described him as an influential Muslim leader in the region.

Political analyst Asad Rizvi said the appointments signalled an attempt to rebuild the Congress’s traditional social alliance. He also said Misra’s relationship with the Samajwadi Party could assist seat-sharing and the functioning of the SP-Congress alliance. The appointments give the Congress new leadership as it prepares for the Assembly polls.

The source material does not include comments from outgoing president Ajay Rai or the Samajwadi Party on the organisational changes. The Congress will now have to coordinate its State campaign under Misra while managing its relationship with the Samajwadi Party. The report presents the appointments as a strategic move, but does not provide details of the party’s election programme or seat-sharing arrangements.