Unrest Brews Within UP Congress as Leaders Unhappy With Priyanka Gandhi's Choice of New Team

Lucknow: As the new team of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) lead by lawmaker Ajay Kumar Lallu takes charge from Friday, dissent seems to be brewing in the leadership as many feel the team lacks senior leaders. The new Committee selected for Uttar Pradesh was handpicked by Priyanka Gandhi and is much smaller and younger in comparison to earlier teams as the average age of the members is 40.

As per sources in the UPCC, veterans are raising questions about young leaders being inducted into the team. News18 sources revealed that a few of the party’s old guards, who were left out of the team, have raised their voice against the selection.

“In the new team of UPCC it is visible that preference has been given to people who have come from other parties and senior leaders have been ignored. Also, there is no representation of the Shia community in this new team, on the other hand BJP had given place to Shia leader in its cabinet in the form of Mukhtar Abbasi Naqvi in Centre and Mohsin Raza in the state,” former Congress MLC Siraj Mehndi said after sending in his resignation.

Another Congress stalwart and former MP Rajesh Mishra has also written to the party expressing his inability to be a part of the advisory council headed by Priyanka Gandhi. “I am a Congress worker, but I am not of that stature that I can give my advice to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,” he said.

As the new UPCC Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu is set to formally take charge formally along with his team on Friday, many senior Congress leaders were in a double mind about whether a welcome should be given to the new team at UPCC headquarters in Lucknow. The AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is expected to reach Lucknow on a three-day tour starting October 14, will meet the senior leaders who have voiced their discomfiture with the selection.

The new UPCC team has 12 general secretaries, 24 secretaries, four vice-presidents and one president. Eighteen senior leaders have been included in the advisory council, including Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia and RPN Singh. Eight other leaders, including Imran Masood, Rajeev Shukla and Jitin Prasad, have been included in the strategy and planning team.