IUML cadres downplay missing get together flags from Rahul’s Wayanad rally — ‘row developed out of jealousy’
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Chennai: The absence of the Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) flag from Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Wayanad Wednesday was a political stand intended to keep away from unneeded controversy, the party’s cadres have advised ThePrint.Numerous IUML personnel from across Kerala reported the Congress-led UDF, the state’s opposition alliance, didn’t want to give the BJP a probability to develop a row like it did in 2019, and the IUML cadres didn’t have any disagreements. The IUML is section of the UDF.
“The flag didn’t have a lot relevance there. Last time, they made a significant fuss and unfold rumours like it (Wayanad) was (like) Pakistan,” IUML employee Muhammed Ali KA told ThePrint.


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In advance of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had remarked that looking at his roadshow in Wayanad, it was difficult to fully grasp if Rahul was contesting from India or Pakistan. Speaking at a rally in Nagpur in the operate-up to the polls, Shah mentioned: “He is contesting from these types of a seat.”
Rahul’s rally, held on the working day he submitted his nomination in advance of the 2019 polls, observed huge participation from cadres of the IUML, which has a significant existence in the district. Pics of the rally broadly shared on social media showed cadres holding IUML flags amid the Congress flags.This time, Rahul, searching for a second expression from the exact constituency, held a rally together with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Kerala leaders there Wednesday, but there have been no flags of both the IUML or the Congress, and the rally only experienced photographs of Rahul and tricoloured balloons.Ali said this was not out of concern, as alleged by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He extra that by criticising the rally, Vijayan had presented a opportunity to the BJP to make a further controversy.According to Ali, the deficiency of IUML flags would not have grabbed focus if Vijayan hadn’t spoken about it.
“It was not anxiety. It was a political approach. If a party like BJP begins a controversy, there is a limit to which we can resist it. That’s what happened the past time. In sites like north India, where by political literacy is considerably less, men and women might think factors without having actuality-examining,” he stated, asserting that the absence of IUML flags from Rahul’s rally was a non-challenge.An additional senior IUML chief, Siddique Ali Rangattoor, reported the rally didn’t have any flags except for the tricolour, as a result the situation didn’t desire any discussion. He added that the UDF was striving to not aid a “team” that produces misunderstanding in a culture that is polarised by things this kind of as apparel and beliefs. “Party cadres are a lot more conscious than leaders. None of them protested versus it,” he informed ThePrint.IUML member P.M. Ameer also explained the absence of the party’s flag was not an issue in the election, and the tactic was important to length the BJP and guarantee the success of secular forces. “Just due to the fact there was no IUML flag at the rally doesn’t imply the get together won’t keep it in a further operate,” he said.
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Concentration was on Rahul, says IUML point out secretary
The purpose of Rahul’s rally in Wayanad was to spotlight him, stated IUML condition secretary and working chairman of the party’s election committee in Wayanad, C.P. Cheriya Muhammed.Conversing to ThePrint, Muhammed stated the controversy was made “out of jealousy towards Rahul Gandhi’s escalating level of popularity in the constituency”.“People started out achieving the venue from 9 am and stayed there until 2 pm amid the warmth and Ramzan fasts. Countless numbers of men and women participated and no person even moved prior to it finished. It may have been the largest rally of Rahul in Wayanad hence significantly,” reported Muhammed, incorporating that the IUML cadres did not have any problems relating to the absence of the party’s flag.Muhammed also mentioned there had been no conversations on the flags prior to the rally, and it was just a typical event just before the election.
The controversy
Rahul’s rally landed in a controversy soon after Vijayan stated the UDF was afraid to exhibit its ally’s flag even however it essential its votes.Addressing a press meeting in Alappuzha Thursday, the CM asserted that the state does not will need a celebration like UDF, “which is fearful of the BJP”.Union Minister Smriti Irani, who was campaigning in Wayanad for BJP candidate K. Surendran, claimed if Rahul was ashamed of IUML’s guidance, he need to reject it.On the other hand, the IUML reacted by declaring that the CPI(M), which is main Kerala’s ruling LDF alliance, doesn’t have any small business examining the IUML’s flags.
IUML countrywide typical secretary and MLA P.K. Kunhalikutty alleged that the CPI(M) couldn’t maintain its flag independently everywhere outside the house Kerala.In the meantime, the Congress Friday mentioned it does not have to cover its partnership with the IUML as the social gathering is not just a Congress ally in Kerala, but also a member of the INDIA bloc.Occasion leader V.D. Satheesan alleged that Vijayan was making an attempt to appease the BJP by attacking Rahul Gandhi. “Smriti Irani and Pinarayi Vijayan have the exact voice. Identical arguments. The way they assault Rahul Gandhi seems like their arguments have been created in the very same position,” he stated.(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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