‘Is Rahul ashamed of ally IUML?’: Cong caught in a case of missing flags in Kerala

THE MURMURS over the missing flags of the Congress and especially its ally IUML at Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in Wayanad on Wednesday continue to grow — the absence underlining the party's uneasy balancing act as it tries to retain its Muslim vote without alienating others.

Both the BJP and CPI(M) attacked the party for being cagey about the flags at an event showcasing, of all people, Rahul, whose Bharat Jodo Yatras were about embracing all communities.

The Congress caution stemmed from its 2019 experience when IUML flags at a similar roadshow held by Rahul, ahead of filing his nomination from Wayanad, had been dubbed by the BJP as “Pakistani flags”. The IUML flags are green in colour with a crescent. BJP president Amit Shah had said: “When a procession is taken out, you cannot make out whether it is in India or Pakistan.”

This time, the IUML and Congress workers at the Rahul roadshow only carried his photos and Tricolour balloons.

On Thursday, the CPI(M) and BJP both lectured the Congress on the “dignity” of a party's flag and the “importance” of keeping it flying high.

Thecpi(m)saidtheabsenceof the flags proved its point that the Congress — its main rival in the state – was too cowardly to take on the Sangh Parivar. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan added his weight to the attack, while pointingoutthatthecongressflag closely resembled the Tricolour.

“The Congress has stooped to such a level that it is afraid of the BJP. It is a demand of the Sangh Parivarthatthetricolourbeabandoned (Opposition parties accuse the BJP of this as the RSS for a long time did not hoist the Tricolour at its headquarters). The Congress is yielding to that demand of the Sangh Parivar,” Vijayan said, adding that Kerala should vote for MPS “who do not hide their party flags due to fear of the BJP”.

BJP state president K Surendran posted on X how proud the party was of its own flag. “Unhesitatingly waving our lotusflag,chantingbharatmataki jai. No one can stop us from waving our flag, no one can deny it.”

He went on to share a visual of a BJP roadshow in Wayanad with hundreds of party flags.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who campaigned for the BJP in Wayanad on Thursday, said if Rahul was “ashamed” of its ally Iuml,heshouldrejectitssupport.

While the Congress has not offered any official reason for not having flags at Rahul's roadshow, its senior leader V D Satheesan said: “The CPI(M) need not give a class to the Congress on how to conduct a campaign. In the last elections, the BJP created a controversy. This time, the CPI(M) has stepped in to propitiate the BJP. Vijayan is attacking Rahul Gandhi at the behest of the BJP. ”

The IUML, which had senior leaders such as P K Kunhalikutty attending road show, supported the Congress decision while attacking the CPI(M). Underlining the Left's marginal presence outside Kerala and its alliance with the Congress elsewhere, Kunhalikutty, the IUML national general secretary, said: “Outside Kerala, the CPI(M) needs the flag of the Congress. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the CPI(M)'S red flag needs the flag of the Congress. Beyond Wayanad, we see CPI(M) workers raising slogans for Rahul with Congress flags in their hands. Rahul is the leader of the INDIA bloc. He is fighting against the BJP and he should be supported, instead of picking up such issues.”

However, the Congress will be wary of the issue creating mistrust between it and the IUML at a time when the CPI(M) is trying to woo the outfit with precisely the message that the Congress can't take on the Sangh Parivar.

The IUML holds a huge sway in Wayanad, which has a large population of Muslims. In 2019, when Rahul lost from the family bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, the IUML’S backing had partly ensured his record-setting win from Wayanad.

On Thursday, in a related development, the Congress turned down the unilateral support offered to it by the SDPI, the political wing of the banned Islamist outfit PFI. As the BJP had attacked it over the issue, the Congress had tried to dodge taking a stand on it.

Irani also attacked Rahul over the SDPI support to the Congress.

X After burning its hands in 2019, when it faced attacks from the BJP, Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad this time did not have the flags of either the Congress or its ally IUML.