Case of the Missing Flags in Kerala: Congress Questioned Over Rahul Gandhi Alleged Absence of IUML Ally Representation

Case of the Missing Flags in Kerala: Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in Wayanad on Wednesday continued to raise concerns over the absence of the Congress and IUML flags – the absence highlighting the party's uneasy balancing act between retaining the Muslim vote while not alienating other communities.

Rahul Gandhi's 2-kilometer roadshow before filing his nomination for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat has put the grand old party in the hot seat.

Rahul's roadshow - who is seeking another term as an MP from Kerala - was conspicuously devoid of party flags, including those of the Congress and its ally, the IUML.

It had been criticized by the Bharatiya Janata Party for portraying the IUML’s green and crescent flag incorrectly as Pakistan’s national flag at the 2019 rally, which was marked by the IUML’s green and crescent flags. Amit Shah, Union Home Minister at the time, had said that when the Congress paraded, it was impossible to tell whether it was in India or Pakistan. Amit Shah had questioned the Congress’s nationalist credentials.

At the Rahul roadshow, only his photos and Tricolor balloons were carried by the IUML and Congress workers.

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BJP and CPI(M) both lectured the Congress on Thursday about the "dignity" and "importance" of a party's flag.

It claimed that the absence of the flags proved the CPI(M)'s point that the Congress, its main rival in the state, was too cowardly to challenge the Sangh Parivar. While pointing out that the Congress flag is closely related to the Tricolour, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan added his weight to the attack.

It is the demand of the Sangh Parivar that the Tricolour be abandoned (opposition parties accuse the BJP of this since the RSS has not hoisted the Tricolour for a long time at its headquarters). Vijayan says the Congress is yielding to that demand from the Sangh Parivar, and Kerala should vote for MPs who "have strong political convictions" and do not hide their party flags in fear of the BJP.

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The absence of Congress and IUML flags at Wednesday's rally in Wayanad was questioned by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan first. Vijayan told a press conference in Kochi on Thursday that the Congress was so afraid of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar that it had its own flag.

“It was a demand of the Sangh Parivar that the Tricolour be abandoned. The Congress is yielding to that demand,” Vijayan said, adding that Kerala should vote for MPs with strong political convictions, “who do not hide their party flags due to fear of the BJP”.

Rahul Gandhi was accused of being afraid of alienating Hindu and Christian voters in Kerala by the optics of him cocooned in IUML flags by the ruling LDF as well as comparing the Congress to the BJP.

According to Irani, Rahul should reject support from the Indian Union Muslim League if he is ashamed of it. He had previously defeated Rahul to win the Amethi seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul won in the constituency with a significant Muslim population thanks to the IUML, which holds considerable sway there. After the BJP attacked the Congress party over the issue of unilateral support offered by the SDPI, the political wing of the banned right-wing Islamist outfit PFI, the Congress party officially turned down it.

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