Congress sought explanations from two senior Dalit leaders after they went to Mayawati's Lucknow residence without an appointment and returned without meeting the BSP chief. The visitors were Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia and Rajendra Pal Gautam, who headed the party's national Scheduled Caste Department.
Punia told The Indian Express that the idea arose after a meeting of the Congress's Scheduled Caste wing on Tuesday evening, May 19. He said Mayawati's health came up in conversation and the leaders decided to enquire about her wellbeing because her residence was nearby. He denied any other motive for the visit.
Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pande told the newspaper that neither the party nor he had given the leaders a mandate to approach her. The episode occurred while Rahul Gandhi was visiting Rae Bareli for Dalit outreach, including a Bahujan Swabhiman Sabha and the inauguration of a statue of freedom fighter Veera Pasi.
In separate comments reported by PTI and carried by The Times of India, Punia rejected suggestions that the visitors were carrying a message from Gandhi. State Congress president Ajay Rai said such meetings required advance clearance from senior leaders. Pande described the visitors as acting personally and confirmed that show-cause notices had been issued.
Gautam said he knew Mayawati's relatives, including her brother, and therefore had not considered a formal appointment necessary. He described the attempted call as an enquiry about her health, rather than a political initiative. BSP spokesperson Vishwanath Pal told PTI that he had no knowledge of the visit, offering no confirmation of any proposed inter-party discussion.
The accounts establish an attempted courtesy visit followed by a dispute over party authorisation, not a meeting at which an alliance was negotiated. The personal explanations from the two visitors and the leadership's insistence on prior clearance account for the immediate controversy without turning speculation about a Congress-BSP arrangement into an announced political development.
