UP Congress leader's anti-Dalit charge against Ajay Rai; new clash video emerges

Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Mamta Chaudhary has accused former state party chief Ajay Rai of being “anti-Dalit” and abusing and threatening her during a clash at the party headquarters in Lucknow. A new video of the confrontation has also emerged.Speaking to Aaj Tak, India Today’s sister channel, Chaudhary alleged that Rai told her to “stay within your limits” and that his associates threatened her, brandished shoes and slippers, and physically assaulted women workers.“I am a Dalit, he is anti-Dalit,” she said, alleging that Rai abused her and called someone to say, “Beat the b***h.”“He said, ‘Stay within your limits.’ I will talk to the Congress party,” Chaudhary added. Recounting the confrontation, she claimed that Rai’s associates began shouting at her, demanding to know what she had said, before attacking the women workers.“His associates—acting like university goons or thugs—started aggressively asking, ‘Who said that? What did you say?’ They began raising slippers and shoes and physically assaulting us with their hands and feet,” she alleged. Chaudhary also accused Rai of having a history of aggressive behaviour, claiming that he had previously pushed senior leader Imran Masood.She further alleged that Dalits had long-faced hostility within the party.The confrontation took place on Sunday during a programme at the Congress headquarters marking the assumption of charge by newly-appointed state president Aradhana Mishra and Masood.The new video of the confrontation captured the heated and profanity-laden showdown, with tempers flaring as party workers trade abuses and the dispute spirals into chaos.Rai subsequently complained to senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari, Mishra and Masood, and demanded Chaudhary’s expulsion, arguing that her conduct tarnished the party’s image and damaged its internal atmosphere.The Congress leadership is yet to announce any formal action on Rai’s demand for Chaudhary’s expulsion.- Ends