Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi. Jan 27: Former Congress MP Shakeel Ahmad on Monday claimed that his life is under threat, days after he publicly described senior party leader Rahul Gandhi as a ‘darpok’ (coward) and an insecure politician.
Ahmad, a three-time MLA and two-term MP from Bihar, said he was “secretly informed” by Congress colleagues that the party’s national leadership had allegedly issued instructions to attack his residences in Patna and Madhubani on Tuesday under the pretext of burning his effigies. Calling the development “against the principles of democracy”, Ahmad made the allegation in a post on X.
In a separate post, Ahmad shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp group chat in which a message allegedly urged party workers to burn his effigies for speaking against Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to NDTV, he said he received multiple phone calls from his “friends” in the Congress, warning him that party workers had been told to attack him. He maintained that while his opinion could be wrong, he had “every right to express it”.
The former Union minister and ex-Congress general secretary further alleged that it was “very obvious” that Rahul Gandhi was behind the move. Last Saturday, Ahmad had accused Gandhi of promoting only those young leaders who praise him within the party. Ahmad, who quit the Congress after the Bihar Assembly elections in 2025, said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha feels uncomfortable around senior leaders with strong public standing.
Terming Gandhi “dictatorial” and “non-democratic”, Ahmad claimed that the Congress leader does not listen to senior colleagues. He also targeted Gandhi over his loss from the Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh during his tenure as Congress president, saying he failed to retain even a constituency nurtured by his family. “Rahul Gandhi is a coward and an insecure person. He does not get that ‘boss feeling’ before seniors or leaders with mass support,” Ahmad told PTI.
The BJP seized on the controversy, claiming Ahmad had “exposed” Rahul Gandhi. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Gandhi projects himself as tolerant and democratic, but in reality is “dictatorial” with an “Emergency mindset”.
Meanwhile, the Congress hit back strongly, branding Ahmad a “betrayer” and a “Jaichand”. Congress leader Manickam Tagore, in a post on X, said he was saddened by Ahmad’s remarks at a time when the party needed unity. He accused Ahmad of attacking a leader who walked thousands of kilometres through the Bharat Jodo and Bharat Jodo Nyay yatras to spread unity and justice.
Tagore alleged that such attacks were driven by a desire for relevance and “pleasing new masters”, calling them part of a “new batch of Jayachands”. The term ‘Jaichand’ is commonly used in north Indian folklore to denote a traitor, based on the legend of King Jaichand’s betrayal of Prithviraj Chauhan.