Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, arguing that the party's recent Assembly election results reflect a fundamental failure of leadership — and a candidate strategy that disproportionately favoured Muslim nominees. Rijiju's remarks, posted on X (formerly Twitter), drew on constituency-level electoral data from Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu.

What Rijiju Said

In his post, Rijiju wrote: "Rahul Gandhi Ji, this is the reason, so why blame others!! It's the failure of your leadership. Respect Muslims & don't treat Muslims as mere Vote Bank." He framed his criticism not as opposition to Muslim representation, but as a warning against what he described as identity-based electoral engineering.

Summing up his argument, Rijiju stated: "It is clear that the only community that is assured of victory on a Congress ticket are the Muslims. Don't be against Muslims but, do not become a Muslim League Party which is divisive!"

The Electoral Data Rijiju Cited

Rijiju presented a state-by-state breakdown to support his argument. In Assam, he noted that 18 out of 19 Congress MLAs who won were Muslim, and that 18 of the 20 Muslim candidates fielded by Congress won, while only 1 out of 79 non-Muslim Congress candidates secured a seat.

In Kerala, he pointed out that 35 Muslim MLAs were elected to an assembly of 140 seats, with 30 coming from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance — including 8 Congress MLAs and all 22 legislators of ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). In West Bengal, he said Congress won 2 seats and both winners were Muslims from Muslim-majority constituencies. In Tamil Nadu, Congress fielded 2 Muslim candidates, of whom 1 won.

Ajmal Video and the 'Muslim League' Charge

Rijiju also shared a video clip of Badruddin Ajmal, chief of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), in which Ajmal reportedly said: "Congress has become Muslim League, I am sad for it." Ajmal himself won the Binnakandi Assembly seat, defeating a range of Independent and regional party candidates. The minister appeared to use Ajmal's own words to reinforce his charge against Congress.

Earlier Broadside on Mandate Respect

This is not the first salvo Rijiju fired this week. On Tuesday, he criticised Rahul Gandhi for questioning the election results in West Bengal and Assam. "Please learn to respect the mandate of the People. The more you attack the Constitutional Authorities, the more you'll lose your own remaining credibility as a leader. Do criticise the Govt. Policies, attack us but please respect the Constitution of India," Rijiju said.

The BJP's Assam Sweep — Context for the Remarks

The political backdrop is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s sweeping victory in the Assam Assembly elections. The alliance secured 102 out of 126 seats, marking a third consecutive term in power for the ruling dispensation. The BJP alone won 82 seats, comfortably above the majority mark, while allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) secured 10 seats each. Congress, by contrast, managed only 19 seats — a result that has triggered internal and external scrutiny of the party's candidate selection strategy.

With the BJP consolidating its dominance in the Northeast and Congress struggling to expand beyond its existing support base, the debate over minority outreach versus broader coalition-building is likely to intensify ahead of the next electoral cycle.