The leading face of Congress – Rahul Gandhi led a 2km roadshow with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ahead of filing the nomination for Wayanad to contest the Sabha Elections 2024. However, the roadshow grabbed the eyes of the opposition as the Congress flags were replaced by face placards.
#WATCH | Congress sitting MP and candidate Rahul Gandhi conducts a roadshow in Wayanad – his constituency before filing his nomination.
His sister and party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also accompanying him. pic.twitter.com/oFox4aKFB1
— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2024
It was noticed that both the Congress and its ally IUML replaced its party flags and campaigned with placards. The reason is predicted from the experience of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
Back in 2019, a huge rally was witnessed with IUML flags that drew criticism from the BJP. They wrongly claimed it resembled Pakistan’s flag, trying to question the Congress’s loyalty to India. To avoid a similar problem this time, Congress and its allies decided to replace the flags with placards showing Rahul Gandhi’s picture. But this decision didn’t go unnoticed or without consequences.
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The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was the first to raise concerns about the missing flags. He said it seemed like the Congress was afraid of the BJP and was even hiding its own flag. He accused them of bowing to pressure from the BJP by not displaying the national flag.
The ruling party also accused Congress of trying to copy the BJP’s tactics and being afraid of losing support from Hindu and Christian voters by being seen with IUML flags.
Surprisingly, even the BJP criticized Congress for not having IUML flags at the rally. Union Minister Smriti Irani joked that Rahul Gandhi was ashamed of his ally and suggested he should reject their support if that’s the case.
Amidst all this, a senior Congress leader criticized the CPI(M) for getting involved in lecturing them on campaign tactics, accusing them of doing BJP’s bidding. He asserted that they know how to manage Rahul’s roadshow.
The IUML’s support is crucial for Rahul in Wayanad because of its significant Muslim population. In another development, Congress officially rejected support from SDPI, a political group associated with a banned Islamist outfit, after facing criticism from the BJP over it.
