Congress heir Rahul Gandhi has led the party to a slow downfall, and nothing is more evident to that than the fact that Amethi might cease to be a Congress bastion after the 2019 elections. Unable to cope up with the Union Minister Smriti Irani’s rising popularity in the constituency, Rahul Gandhi foreseeing a defeat has been contemplating contesting from another district. He has reportedly decided to contest from Wayanad seat in Kerala.

The choice of seat for Rahul Gandhi is an interesting one as the constituency is minority dominated. Congress has witnessed a hoard of changes over the past many generations of leaders. However, their love for divide and rule maintained a common practice. Imbibing from the British, Jawaharlal Nehru and then his successors have garnered support through practicing minority politics since time immemorial.

Rahul Gandhi has aimed to choose a backup seat from where he will be elected for sure. Otherwise, Congress will be in a very embarrassing position wherein the party president is not a member of the Lok Sabha, an all-time low. To avoid that, Wayanad has been posited as a “safe seat”. Almost 57.98% of voters in Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency are Muslims. This indicates the dynasty tradition of viewing the Muslim community as a gullible vote bank who will vote for the Congress under any circumstance. The decision demonstrated the infantilization of the Muslim community by the Congress.

The grand old party in their practice of appeasing minority voters has in the past taken several decisions just to gain minority votes. Shah Bano case was a prime example. Moreover, Congress has recently blocked the bill for the criminalization of triple talaq divorce in Rajya Sabha. The party believes as in by showing such appeasing gestures, the minority will vote for Congress regardless of any circumstance. Rahul Gandhi assumes that since his antics in Amethi have failed, the Hindus will vote him out on account of his failures. To have a safe backup, he is now assuming that Muslims will vote him because they do not have any other leader to turn to. Keeping such absurd beliefs in mind, Congress is now attempting to give the Wayanad ticket to the party president. Overall, having failed to accomplish anything worthwhile, Rahul Gandhi wants to attain votes solely on the basis of religion in both the constituencies.

Kerala is a state with 27% Muslim population. At this point, it has become important for a Muslim leader to take Rahul Gandhi head on in Wayanad and prove once and for all that Muslims are not blind followers of Congress and instead understand their petty tactics.

One strong name which comes to mind is that of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi. He is a three-time MP, representing the Hyderabad constituency in Lok Sabha. Recently he has filled for nomination for Lok Sabha elections from Hyderabad again. Owaisi has been a strong leader, advocating the rights of minorities. He believes that Muslims must develop their own political force, under the purview of the Indian constitution. Asaduddin Owaisi has always taken a firm nationalistic stand, focusing on important issues such as women education as well as eradication of the dowry system and health issues. He has also called out to the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for intolerance against Hindus in Pakistan.

According to the Pakistani Constitution, only a Muslim is qualified to be President. India has seen multiple Presidents from oppressed communities. It's high time Khan sahab learns something from us about inclusive politics & minority rights.https://t.co/qarmZkqdhH — Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) December 23, 2018

Strongly condemning terrorism, he believes the enemies of the country are enemies of Muslims. Preaching that these aristocracies are not what Islam is, he referred to the ISIS organization as, “dogs of hell” while requesting the youth to feed the poor and work for the development of people if they wanted to wage jihad, instead of taking up arms. Apart from nationalistic interests, he also advocates social development by condemning instant triple talaq form of divorce.

As evident from his leadership over the years, Asaduddin Owaisi no doubt has a fearless voice. Unlike the Congress leader’s pseudo secular tactics to please the minorities on the surface, Owaisi has actually taken a strong stand for the important issues. Moreover, he is a person who is neither pro-BJP nor pro-Congress.

In light of Rahul Gandhi’s nomination, even the Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, the body of Sunni scholars is not pleased. They believe that this candidature is at the cost of Muslim representation. They feel, and rightly so that Muslim representation in the candidate list of the Congress is meagre. The Muslims constitute 27% of the state and yet Congress has allotted only two seats for Muslims.

By and large, Owaisi challenging Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad would be a significant event in terms of de-recognization of Muslims merely as a vote bank, as the grand old party views them to be. Having a strong Muslim leader could be a real step away from appeasement and towards the empowerment of the community.