'Completely secular party': Rahul Gandhi's comments on ally Muslim League draws ire from BJP
Talking about the 2024 general elections, Gandhi said that the opposition parties are united and that the outcome of the 2024 general elections will ‘surprise’ people.
- Jun 2, 2023,
- Updated Jun 2, 2023 2:00 PM IST
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in the US for a three-city tour, said there is nothing non-secular about Muslim League. Addressing a group of journalists at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Thursday, Gandhi said: "Muslim League is a completely secular party. There is nothing non-secular about Muslim League. I think the person (who sent the question) has not studied the Muslim League."
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is state-level party in Kerala and is recognised by the Election Commission of India. The party is a major member of the opposition United Democratic Front, the Congress-led state level alliance in Kerala.
Talking about the 2024 general elections, Gandhi said that the opposition parties are united and that the outcome of the 2024 general elections will ‘surprise’ people.
"The opposition is pretty well united, and it's getting more and more united. We are having conversations with all the Opposition (parties). I think quite a lot of good work is happening there. It's a complicated discussion because there are spaces where we are competing with the Opposition. So a bit of give and take is required. But I am confident that it (a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP at the Centre) will happen," Gandhi said.
"I think the Congress party will do very well in the next two years. There is a hidden undercurrent building. I think (the outcome) will surprise people," the 52-year-old leader said in Washington DC.
In recent months, several opposition parties have come together and are now joining hands to take on the BJP government at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year. In an attempt to bring all the like-minded parties together, a conclave has been arranged on June 12 in Patna. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is likely to preside over the meeting.
BJP’s strong comments
Following Gandhi's statements at the National Press Club in Washington, BJP strongly condemned his comments on Muslim League that it is a secular party. BJP's Amit Malviya said it is Gandhi's compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad that he called Muslim League a 'secular party'.
"Jinnah’s Muslim League, the party responsible for India’s partition, on religious lines, according to Rahul Gandhi is a ‘secular’ party. Rahul Gandhi, though poorly read, is simply being disingenuous and sinister here…It is also his compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad," Malviya tweeted.
Gandhi was elected as the Wayanad MP in the Lok Sabha. But he lost his membership in March 2023 following his conviction in the 2019 Modi surname case.
After Malviya’s comments, Congress leaders condemned Malviya for comparing Jinnah's Muslim League and Kerala's Muslim League.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in the US for a three-city tour, said there is nothing non-secular about Muslim League. Addressing a group of journalists at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Thursday, Gandhi said: "Muslim League is a completely secular party. There is nothing non-secular about Muslim League. I think the person (who sent the question) has not studied the Muslim League."
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is state-level party in Kerala and is recognised by the Election Commission of India. The party is a major member of the opposition United Democratic Front, the Congress-led state level alliance in Kerala.
Talking about the 2024 general elections, Gandhi said that the opposition parties are united and that the outcome of the 2024 general elections will ‘surprise’ people.
"The opposition is pretty well united, and it's getting more and more united. We are having conversations with all the Opposition (parties). I think quite a lot of good work is happening there. It's a complicated discussion because there are spaces where we are competing with the Opposition. So a bit of give and take is required. But I am confident that it (a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP at the Centre) will happen," Gandhi said.
"I think the Congress party will do very well in the next two years. There is a hidden undercurrent building. I think (the outcome) will surprise people," the 52-year-old leader said in Washington DC.
In recent months, several opposition parties have come together and are now joining hands to take on the BJP government at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year. In an attempt to bring all the like-minded parties together, a conclave has been arranged on June 12 in Patna. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is likely to preside over the meeting.
BJP’s strong comments
Following Gandhi's statements at the National Press Club in Washington, BJP strongly condemned his comments on Muslim League that it is a secular party. BJP's Amit Malviya said it is Gandhi's compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad that he called Muslim League a 'secular party'.
"Jinnah’s Muslim League, the party responsible for India’s partition, on religious lines, according to Rahul Gandhi is a ‘secular’ party. Rahul Gandhi, though poorly read, is simply being disingenuous and sinister here…It is also his compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad," Malviya tweeted.
Gandhi was elected as the Wayanad MP in the Lok Sabha. But he lost his membership in March 2023 following his conviction in the 2019 Modi surname case.
After Malviya’s comments, Congress leaders condemned Malviya for comparing Jinnah's Muslim League and Kerala's Muslim League.