There is a leadership rift in UP Congress

New Delhi: The Congress party unit in Uttar Pradesh is seen to be going through a churn as Priyanka Gandhi’s close aide and personal assistant, Sandeep Singh, who has played a key role in appointing leaders within the state unit, is facing resistance from the top two leaders, General Secretary in charge of the state, Avinash Pandey, and state unit president, Ajay Rai.
Although, according to party insiders, Ajay Rai was appointed on the recommendation of Gandhi’s team last year, when she was the General Secretary in charge of the state.
A former district president of Congress said, “After too much interference by Sandeep Singh in appointing leaders, Rai was not happy with the functioning of the organisation. It is the state president who has a top role in shaping up the cadre. But Sandeep, in the name of Priyanka, would bypass everyone by taking decisions on his own and make the leaders comply with his instructions, which would lower the status of every big leader in the state. Now, the time has come when Priyanka will be involved more in Kerala politics than in UP politics, therefore Avinash Pandey and Ajay Rai seem to have teamed up to elbow out Sandeep from the state politics”
According to two office bearers in UP Congress, the General Secretary and the President have grown closer to Rahul Gandhi and are also directly connected with him.
One office bearer said, “Two district presidents from Sambhal and Baghpat were suspended from the party recently, who were appointed on the suggestion of Sandeep. One was found indulging in questionable activities. A team within the Congress informed the president, after which he took a quick decision by suspending him. Moreover, the two leaders (Pandey and Rai) have started taking decisions independently which has sent a message that they will not allow the unofficial power of Sandeep to control the party in the state.”
This is also in view that more than 90% of the UP cadre is against Singh’s style of functioning, who has had enough power to override the instructions of Pandey. In addition to that, when such a thing was brought into the notice of Priyanka, according to party insiders, she had told them that many questions were also raised against the loyalists of Indira Gandhi but they continued in their respective roles because of their importance, therefore Sandeep cannot be removed or replaced.
According to a significant section of Congress leaders, the party is struggling in the state because of Singh, therefore if he is pushed out of the scene, it would be the first step in building a positive trajectory for Congress in the state. 
A spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh said, “The Uttar Pradesh cadre of Congress is filled with Sandeep Singh’s supporters. How much can they cleanse the party? Even if they start removing them, it will take more than five years to free Congress from Singh’s administrative shackles.”