A clash broke out at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters in Lucknow on Sunday during the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed state party president Aradhana Misra Mona, bringing an internal rift within the party into the open. Supporters of former state Congress president Ajay Rai and the new leadership reportedly engaged in heated exchanges, pushing and shoving, and physical clashes, creating chaos at the party office. The commotion lasted around half an hour, while a video purportedly showing the incident has been widely shared on social media.
Rai arrived at the state Congress headquarters with his supporters to attend the ceremony, which also marked the appointment of Imran Masood as the working president of the state unit. During the proceedings, a disagreement reportedly broke out between Rai and a woman party leader while the two were talking.
Following the exchange, Rai allegedly left the office in anger. His supporters then demanded that the woman leader be removed from her position and apologise. As tensions rose, senior Congress leaders stepped in to prevent the situation from escalating further. Rajya Sabha members Pramod Tiwari and Imran Masood intervened to calm the workers and restore order at the headquarters. The incident unfolded during a key organisational change in the Uttar Pradesh Congress unit, with the swearing-in ceremony intended to mark the beginning of a new phase under Mona’s leadership.
They reportedly said Rai would return to the state Congress headquarters only after their demands were met.
