After Mega Ramlila Rally, IUML Voices Concern Over Its Place In INDIA Bloc

Following the INDIA bloc rally on November 1 at Ramlila Maidan in the National Capital, a minor disquiet appears to have emerged between the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Congress central leadership. According to sources, the party has conveyed its displeasure to AICC general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

IUML leaders point out that the party has been associated with the Congress for nearly half a century. It is part of the government in two states, with five ministers in Kerala and one in Tamil Nadu, and has five MPs in Parliament. They feel that its contribution to the Opposition alliance has not been adequately recognised and a few leaders believe it is a result of the factionalism within Congress in Kerala.

The first signs of discontent emerged when an INDIA bloc delegation went to meet the President. IUML leader E.T. Mohammed Basheer was initially left out of the list of delegates. His name was added following the intervention of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. However, when the delegation reached Rashtrapati Bhavan, its members were reportedly told that the President's office had not cleared the entire list of 11 names submitted by the INDIA bloc and had approved only 10.

IUML leaders questioned why parties with fewer MPs were represented while their own party was overlooked. The presence of Left leaders, despite their limited parliamentary strength, further added to their disquiet. The party felt slighted when its representatives were turned away on the grounds that prior permission had not been sought from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The IUML leaders also believe they were overlooked during the protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi. On October 2, the IUML’s youth wing, the Muslim Youth League (MYL), and its student organisation, the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), held a protest at Jantar Mantar. Around 40 people, including Shibu Meeran and Ahmad Saju, were detained. On October 10, the organisations staged another protest at Delhi Gate, where around 80 people were detained again. This was also the day Neha Bora was detained near Dilli Haat.

The November 1 INDIA bloc rally brought further discontent. IUML leaders were unhappy that Kerala Industries minister and IUML national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty was not allowed to address the rally, even as CPI(M) and the CPI(ML), which has only two MPs, were allowed to speak.

Before senior leaders usually at Ramlila Maidan, several student leaders and civil society members, including Prashant Bhushan, were allowed to address the rally. However, the IUML’s student and youth organisations were not invited to speak or given a place on the dais.

The party's youth and student wings also felt excluded from the mock Parliament organised at Kharge's residence a day before the main rally on October 31. While other student organisations, including those students at the forefront of the Jamia Millia Islamia student protests, received personal invites, the IUML's youth and student representatives were left out. These leaders and Asif Ansari, the party's Assistant Secretary, used the invites given to IUML RS MP Harris Beeran to enter the venue. 

According to sources, it was Kharge who invited the Muslim League president, Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, to both the rally and the people’s impeachment of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The party sent ET Mohammed Basheer to the mock impeachment proceedings and Kunhalikutty as the party’s representative for the rally, as Thangal was abroad.

Another grievance concerns the India Youth Alliance, a body formed in 2023 to bring together the youth wings of all INDIA bloc parties, and was supposed to meet once every three months. The Muslim Youth League had sought a meeting as recently as September, but none has been convened. The last meeting was held in March, ahead of the elections. The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president, Uday Bhanu Chib, was also apprised of the request, but there has been no response.

The IUML conveyed its grievances to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra earlier this week. Its verbal complaint centred on what it sees as a pattern of being overlooked as a political ally, with its youth and student leaders repeatedly sidelined. Even senior leader P.K. Kunhalikutty, party leaders point out, was made to sit in the last row of the first open bus during the rally. The bus also carried Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav and other senior leaders.