New Delhi [India], January 27 : The fissures in the Congress are coming to the fore, days after senior Congress leaders Shakeel Ahmad and Rashid Alvi alleged that there is "no internal democracy" and "Communication gap" in the party.
Hitting back, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the two leaders have "joined the batch of betrayers", a trend that "began in 2015".
"From 2015, every year we see a batch of betrayers, 'jaichands'. The batch of betrayers, 'jaichands', for this year has started emerging, and Shakeel Ahmad and Rashid Alvi have joined the batch of betrayers, 'jaichands'...There is no need to talk about this 2026 batch of betrayers...Rahul Gandhi took out a footmarch to end this politics of hate and spread love...," Tagore told ANI.
He was responding to queries about a few Congress leaders raising questions on Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, saying there is a "communication gap", and there is "no party forum where we can raise our voice."
The controversy was triggered after Shakeel Ahmad, who recently parted ways with the Congress, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of sidelining senior leaders and undermining internal democracy within the party.
Former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad on Saturday alleged that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wants to throw senior established leadership out of the party and replace them with young leadership that speaks well of him.
Speaking with ANI, Ahmad said, "Rahul Gandhi has kept the youth Congress and NSUI together as he wants to throw the senior established leaders out of the Congress party and replace them with leaders of the youth Congress and those who speak well of him."
Shakeel Ahmed also claimed Rahul Gandhi is "uncomfortable" about collaborating with popular, veteran leaders.
"There are many leaders in Congress who have been politicians long before Rahul Gandhi became one. The day Rahul Gandhi ji won his first election, I won my fifth election. I believe he is uncomfortable sitting with those who don't think of him as their boss. I have felt this for a long time, but when you stay in party you don't say such things," Ahmad told ANI.
He also alleged that Rahul Gandhi has a sense of superiority because of his Nehru-Gandhi lineage.
"I used to tell him don't do this, don't do that. I think he used to feel offended that someone was telling him these things; I belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family. He feels that everything is given to Congress by his family," he said.
Ahmed also alleged, "There is no internal democracy in the Congress party...In the Congress party, whatever Rahul Gandhi says is final."
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