Lok Sabha Election 2024: In Wayanad, flag politics which swept the country during the 2019 Lok Sabha election—have reappeared. Both the left and the right are attacking the Congress for not having Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) flags flown during Rahul Gandhi‘s Wayanad rally on Wednesday. In Kerala, the UDF led by the Congress counts the IUML as one of its main allies.
Absence of Flags at Rahul Gandhi’s Roadshow
The flags of the Congress and its associate, the Indian Union of Maharashtra, were absent from Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad after his nomination. After the huge scandal in 2019, it’s possible that Congress and IUML members received instructions not to carry their flags to the demonstration. Once bitten, twice shy.
To prevent controversy, the Congress had to have chosen a safer choice this time. Flag or not, it was criticised. During the Wednesday roadshow in the hill district, there were a few Indian national flags, the Tricolour, tri-colored balloons, and photographs of Rahul Gandhi visible.
Kerala Chief Minister’s Criticism
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the Congress on Thursday for lacking Muslim League flags at Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad rally, saying the party “lacked the courage” to fly its flag in public. “The Congress has fallen to a level where it is afraid of communal forces,” Vijayan claimed at a press conference. Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan claims that the Congress’s stance on the flag issue demonstrates that it wants the IUML’s support but refuses to recognise their flag.
BJP Leader’s Remarks
The Muslim League, a Congress partner, does not fly its flag in Kerala, as BJP leader Smriti Irani also noted. “That Muslim League flags were hidden in the Congress party nomination rally yesterday indicates that either Rahul Gandhi is ashamed of getting support from the Muslim League or when he visits North India and visits temples, he will not be able to hide his association with the Muslim League,” said Smriti Irani in Wayanad.
Criticism of Congress Support
Union Minister Irani expressed her dismay at Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party accepting the support of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI). Irani had travelled to Wayanad for the BJP candidate K Surendran’s nomination. “By accepting their support, he (Gandhi) has also violated the oath to the Constitution taken during the filing of the nomination,” alleged Smriti Irani.
Controversy Over IUML Flags
The presentation of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) flags as Pakistani flags in 2019 caused a significant uproar. Several social media users claimed to had Pakistani flags with them when they posted images and videos of people applauding Rahul Gandhi. “Wayanad or Karachi/Lahore?”, asked a social media user, on a video Congress had posted in 2019.
Regarding the IUML flags, the BJP had also poked fun at the Congress by claiming that it was difficult to tell if they were from Pakistan or India. The flag with the star and crescent was actually that of the IUML, Congress’s UDF ally.
Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said after the flag incident that Rahul Gandhi had requested the IUML not to carry the party flag to his rallies. During the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, at a Congress rally, the IUML banner was similarly misidentified as the flag of Pakistan.
