A five-member panel has been set up to fix accountability for the clash between two party factions and has been given a week to submit its report. The findings will form the basis for action, the party said.
Lucknow,Oct 13, 2026 20:42 IST
The Congress has said action will be taken against those responsible for the clash at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee office in Lucknow on Sunday, when the party's new state chief Aradhana Misra Mona was to take charge. The party confirmed on Tuesday that it has taken the matter seriously.
A five-member panel has been set up to fix accountability for the clash between two party factions and has been given a week to submit its report. The findings will form the basis for action, the party said.
The inquiry team is led by former UPCC chief Brijlal Khabri and includes former MP Ravi Verma, All India Congress Committee secretaries Abhishek Dutt and Abdul Hannan, and senior leader Shamina Shafiq.
Khabri told PTI that the panel has started collecting videos to establish the sequence of events. "We have begun collecting videos. We will invite people to share any evidence in their possession," he said.
"We intend to contact all those, who were either involved in the unfortunate episode or witnessed it." He also said he would come to Lucknow to head the inquiry from the party office there.
Congress's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Rajendra Gautam said action would follow after the panel submits its report. "Action would surely follow after the probe panel submits its report. The matter has been taken very seriously (by the party leadership)," he told PTI.
Videos of the incident, recorded shortly after outgoing UPCC chief Ajay Rai arrived at the party office to hand over charge to Mona, went viral on social media. The exact sequence of events remains unclear.
However, Rai's supporters have accused party leader Mamta Choudhary of using derogatory remarks when he arrived at the office. One video purportedly showed Choudhary making a remark that led Rai's associates to tell her, "aukaat mein baat karo (talk within limits)".
The brief video, however, is inconclusive. Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari and Uttar Pradesh Congress working president Imran Masood, who were present at the office, were seen persuading an angry Rai to stay back for the event.
Rai left for Varanasi after the incident and has refused to comment on the controversy, though sources said he has been assured by the party leadership that the matter would be looked into. Choudhary has denied wrongdoing.
"I was not even looking at him (Rai) when he arrived at the party office. I do not know what happened but suddenly, his supporters started creating a ruckus. If he was angry at me for any remark that he thought was directed at him, he could have admonished me. But his supporters hurled slippers and expletives at women who were with me. This is not right," she said.
The Congress has not officially explained the reasons for the leadership change in Uttar Pradesh months ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. Mona is the daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari.
Rai, who belongs to the Bhumihar community, had led the Uttar Pradesh Congress for three years, including during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The party currently has two MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and had failed to win Amethi and Raebareli in the 2022 Assembly polls. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, however, the SP-Congress alliance won 43 seats in the state, with the SP winning 37 and the Congress six, while the BJP won 33.
For now, the Congress has said the focus is on establishing what happened at the party office and fixing responsibility, with the Khabri panel expected to submit its report within a week.
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