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Congress’s outreach, signal to ally before polls: Aradhana Mishra new UP chief, Imran Masood working president
Devinder Nishad and Alok Prasad appointed senior vice presidents as party also engages with OBC riverine and Dalit communities
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In a big organisational reshuffle aimed at recalibrating the party’s social and regional outreach ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, the Congress high command on Friday appointed three-time Rampur Khas MLA Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ as the new president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), replacing Ajay Rai. Saharanpur MP Imran Masood has been named working president, while Devinder Nishad and Alok Prasad have been appointed senior vice presidents.
By replacing Ajay Rai, an upper caste Bhumihar leader, with Mishra, a prominent Brahmin face as the state president, the party has tried to send a strong signal to voters of the community, a segment that had been traditionally with the party but for long had shifted to the BJP.
The party has named its other MLA Virendra Chaudhary as the Congress Legislature Party leader, a post which Mishra held till now, in Uttar Pradesh with immediate effect.
Speaking to HT over the phone after her appointment, Aradhana Mishra said, “I am thankful to the party leadership for giving me this responsibility, I will definitely take things ahead from here. We have been working to strengthen the organisation for the last two years and we saw the results in 2024. We will fight the elections with our full strength. We are going to work as a team.”
By bringing in Imran Masood, the party has signalled both a strong outreach to Muslim voters in the state and also sent a subtle signal to its INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party of a hard bargain in the seat-sharing talks in the near future. Masood had of late been a strong critic of SP’s perceived big brotherly attitude in alliance politics in UP. His positioning can also been seen as a balancing act vis-a-vis the new president, who is also daughter of Congress’s veteran politician Pramod Tiwari and is often seen as having comfortable equations with the SP’s top leadership.
Bringing in two vice-presidents, one (Devinder Nishad) from OBC riverine community and the other (Alok Prasad) from the Dalit Pasi community indicates the Congress’s willingness to reach out to the two communities, which warmed up to the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls amidst Rahul Gandhi’s big push over caste census.
Born on April 20, 1974, in Prayagraj, Aradhana Mishra is an MBA graduate from Allahabad University. She earlier served three consecutive terms as block pramukh and has been a consistent face of the party in the state legislature.
Party strategists believe her appointment could also aid coordination with the Samajwadi Party.
Imran Masood, the newly appointed working president, is a sitting Member of Parliament from Saharanpur. Born in 1971 in Gangoh, he hails from a politically influential family in western Uttar Pradesh. His uncle Rasheed Masood was a multi-term MP. Imran Masood earlier served as chairman of the Saharanpur Municipal Council and as the MLA from Muzaffarabad (now Behat) between 2007 and 2012. After stints with other parties, he returned to the Congress and won the Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat in 2024. With a strong base among Muslim voters in western UP, Masood is expected to play a pivotal role in consolidating minority support for the party.
Among the senior vice presidents, Devinder Nishad represents an important outreach towards the OBC community. His inclusion signals the Congress’s intent to deepen its engagement with backward classes that have traditionally been courted by other parties.
Alok Prasad, the other senior vice president, belongs to the Pasi community and has previously handled organisational responsibilities related to Scheduled Castes within the state unit. His elevation is seen as part of the party’s continued effort to expand its base among Dalit voters, particularly those who may be looking beyond the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Political observers note that the new leadership structure - with a Brahmin woman at the helm, a Muslim leader as working president, and representation for OBC and Dalit communities in key positions - reflects a deliberate social engineering strategy. The Congress appears keen to balance caste equations and regional aspirations as it seeks to revive its organisational presence and electoral fortunes in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 polls.
