Brewing Trouble in Uttar Pradesh: Savarn resentment in Cong, those ‘sidelined’ vent out

A special social media group has been formed by some of these aggrieved Congress leaders to “vent out anger” and claim that they would continue to raise their voices till senior party leadership listen to their woes




The state unit of the Congress is facing growing resentment from a section of party leaders, alleging that some upper castes members are being sidelined purposely within the party and most of the disciplinary actions are taken against them.

A special social media group has been formed by some of these aggrieved Congress leaders to “vent out anger” and claim that they would continue to raise their voices till senior party leadership listen to their woes

“I have no knowledge of such clear discrimination against some particular castes within the Congress. I started raising my voice within but some felt troubled so I decided to resign from my post of AICC co-ordinator for research wing in UP. I have not resigned from the party and hope to draw the attention of senior leadership of the party towards the issue,” said Konark Dixit, who has formed “Shoshit Congressi Savarn” (Suppressed Upper Caste Congress members).

“Many people are being told that only OBCs would be given importance in the party. Such things might take place during the elections, but within the organisation, many senior Congress leaders have been sidelined all in the name of revival,” he added, referring to the state Congress president, Ajay Kumar Lallu, who belongs to OBC Vaishya community.

Another senior leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Since Priyanka Gandhi is directly handling Uttar Pradesh, therefore, many are not able to find the courage to directly raise the issue and come out in open, but it is slowly building up within the party and senior leadership would have to resolve it soon.”

Pointing out the recent expulsion of Congress leaders, the senior leader said that most of the expelled leaders belong to upper castes.
Last November, the party had expelled 10 state leaders for six years for holding an “unnecessary” meeting against a decision of the central leadership. Those expelled had raised concerns over appointments in the state Congress committee.

“Among those expelled included Ramkrishna Dwivedi, Satyadev Tripathi, Bhoodhar Narayan Mishra, Nek Chandra Pandey etc. We can understand that party wants to shift its focus on a particular section but completely sidelining senior leadership, who have given years for newcomers of a specific section from outside is leading the resentment,” said the leader.

State Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, however, dismissed any resentment in the party. “There is nothing serious and we would resolve all these things,” Lallu said.

The appointment of Lallu, a two-time MLA from Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, last October by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had caused resentment among a section of party veterans. At the same time, Priyanka had reconstituted Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and brought down the number of members to less than 50 members, unlike in the past when it had 400 to 500 members.

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