Congress forms probe panel after Mahila leader Mamta Choudhary’s clash with Ajay Rai at Lucknow HQ

UPDATE - follow-up to 'Aukaat mein baat karo': Who is the Dalit woman leader at centre of UP Congress row': A fact‑finding committee headed by former UP Congress president Brijlal Khabri was set up by the All India Congress Committee to investigate a confrontation on October 11 at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters in Lucknow. The clash involved Mahila Congress central‑zone president Mamta Choudhary, 47, and former state party chief Ajay Rai. Choudhary said Rai’s supporters targeted women workers and that shoes and slippers were thrown at them. A video shows Choudhary saying she did not want to see Rai’s face, after which Rai is heard telling her to “remain within her limits (aukaat mein baat karo)”. Choudhary told The Indian Express she was objecting to women being pushed, not addressing Rai directly, and could not understand why the exchange escalated. She called the incident an attack on Dalits and women and urged senior party leaders to act. The incident occurred before newly appointed state president Aradhana Misra and working president Imran Masood arrived to take charge of the office. Choudhary, a Dalit leader with nearly two decades in the party’s city organisation, entered politics in 2006, won four consecutive municipal‑corporator terms, and led the municipal corporation’s House in 2017 and 2023. She was hand‑picked by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon” drive before the 2022 Assembly polls and contested the reserved Mohanlalganj seat, securing 2,990 votes. ## Context The probe comes as the Congress prepares for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, and internal friction over the Mahila Congress leadership has grown after the committee’s dissolution last year.