‘Rahul Gandhi never uses the word Muslim in his speeches’: Why some Congress minority leaders are uneasy about party’s ‘silence’

The unease within the Congress has also been fuelled by the growing influence of Owaisi’s AIMIM after the Bihar Assembly and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, with the Congress’s Muslim leaders expressing concern among themselves that if the Congress doesn’t raise issues faced by the Muslim community, there is a likelihood of the party ceding space to the AIMIM.

Former Union Minister Shakeel Ahmad, a three-term MLA and two-time MP who left the party in 2025, triggered a row last week after he called Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi “insecure” and “scared”, alleging that the Congress has “ignored” its Muslim leaders.

Ahmad, who is from Bihar, told The Indian Express that while he doesn’t agree with Owaisi’s politics, he acknowledges his party’s apprehension to take a stand on issues concerning the minority community. “While I think Owaisi doesn’t help the cause of Muslim representation, there are takers for his politics among the community. I have always maintained that the Congress should take a secular line and not be scared to speak on Muslim issues. There is a section of leaders who have convinced the Congress high command that talking of Muslim issues will hamper the party’s chance of getting votes of the Hindu community,” he said.

In the Bihar Assembly elections last year, the Muslim-dominated Seemachal region saw the NDA win 14 of its 24 constituencies, with the BJP winning seven, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) five, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) two. The Opposition Mahagathbandhan won just five seats: four for the Congress and one for the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The AIMIM bagged five seats in Seemanchal, the same as its 2020 tally.

Since the results, the Bihar Congress leadership has discussed internally and flagged to the high command that top party leaders have been shying away from issues of the Muslim community. In the run-up to the elections, CPI(M-L) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said at a meeting of the alliance that the Mahagathbandhan should talk on issues such as the denial of bail to Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, and others, but the Congress chose not to.

“If you hear Rahul Gandhi’s speeches, then you will realise that he never uses the word ‘Muslim’ in his speeches. Meanwhile, he goes on talking about the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class communities,” said an All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader from the Muslim community.

Last Tuesday, senior Maharashtra Congress leader Husain Dalwai dubbed the AIMIM the “B team” of the BJP and attributed its success in the civic polls to the Congress’s failure to stand firmly with Muslims. Dalwai, a former Rajya Sabha MP, said, “It is the Congress’s mistake. The party is ignoring Muslims, and that is why Muslims are also ignoring the Congress.”

He said the eight wards won by the AIMIM in Mumbai could have gone to the Congress, which managed only 24 seats in the 227-member BMC.

Space shrinking

Former Rajya Sabha MP Raashid Alvi raised concerns about the exit of several Muslim Congress leaders and said if they continue to be ignored, leaders such as Owaisi would keep getting stronger.

“The Muslim leaders are not power hungry. Also, they don’t have any space within the BJP so they can’t go there. Then, why are they leaving Congress? It is because the space for Muslim leaders in the party is shrinking… As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he is the only leader in the country with a mass appeal and he is taking the BJP head on,” Alvi told The Indian Express.

Alvi said the Congress had failed to create first and second-rung leadership from the Muslim community. “At a time, the Congress would have multiple top leaders from the community. Why have the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Naseemuddin Siddiqui left? I think it is because the Congress failed to give them space,” he said.

Another AICC leader from the Muslim community says the party had stopped raising issues as serious as the public targeting of the community. “If you see some incidents in the recent past, you will see it is quite obvious. If a Hindu man drowns in Noida or temples are demolished in Varanasi, the whole Congress ecosystem speaks in one voice. But if a man is lynched, or if a group is arrested for something as basic as offering namaz on a private property in a group or a mosque is demolished in Delhi, the Congress high command keeps quiet. The Muslim community sees this and then sees Owaisi talking of constitutional rights. The community then thinks that the Congress is anyway not in a position to form government at the Centre and in most states, then why should the community vote for them blindly?” said a Muslim leader from Uttar Pradesh Congress.

While the likes of Alvi, Ahmad, Dalwai and others criticise the party, there are some within the party who feel that the Congress does enough for Muslims and the leaders criticising the party are speaking because of “vested interests”.

“The party can’t afford to be branded as a Muslim party, which the BJP has been doing. The party’s silence is measured and will benefit the Muslim community in the long run. The Muslim community alone can’t ensure a win for any party. Then, how can the Congress focus on the community and antagonise the Hindu community?” said a Muslim AICC leader from Maharashtra.