This is about 2023. There were around 20-25 people. Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Venugopal were also present. In that meeting, I said that the condition of Congress in Bihar is very bad. Yes, Nitish ji was with us at that time. But there was an uproar that Nitish ji was about to leave the INDIA alliance. I said in the meeting - look, try to stop Nitish ji. But what happened after that day was the opposite: I was never again called to any meeting in Delhi. One month later, Nitish ji also left the alliance.Shakeel Ahmad
Senior leader and former Union Minister Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, who spent four decades in the Congress, is now attacking Rahul Gandhi after leaving the party. In a special conversation with The Quint, Ahmad expressed his resentment and said that Rahul Gandhi is not afraid of outsiders or other parties, but of senior leaders within his own party.
He said:
To be honest, I felt deeply humiliated. If it was a little, I might have tolerated it. But things crossed all the limits. I don’t understand why Rahul Gandhi is doing this, or why the people appointed by him are doing this. Obviously, the people he appoints are of the same temperament as him. From their behavior, it felt like they were trying to belittle me.Shakeel Ahmad
Ahmad also added that despite having already announced that he would not contest elections, he was still sidelined. He said:
Three years ago, I held a press conference and announced that I will no longer contest elections. I have no greed. Still, a person is being humiliated who has publicly said that his children will not enter politics, they are settled abroad and have nothing to do with politics.Shakeel Ahmad
“Rahul Gandhi feels ‘insecure’ of party leaders”
Ahmad added that Rahul Gandhi needs to be understood. He has two sides to his personality, one that is seen with the opposition and before the public, and another that exists inside the party.
Rahul Gandhi is afraid of the people within the party. A person who has had more security than a cabinet minister since birth, why would he fear outsiders? But he feels ‘insecure’ of party leaders. Calling him ‘cowardly’ would be wrong. Ever since Rahul entered politics, whenever he realized that someone else in the party was ‘popular’, he began to feel threatened. His thinking is: ‘If this person is strong at the grassroots and breaks away from me, what will happen?’ Especially those who had already become leaders before he did.Shakeel Ahmad
When Shakeel Ahmad was asked whether it isn’t a big problem in Congress that leaders point out the party’s flaws in the media instead of talking internally and why they couldn’t raise these issues inside the party for 5–10 years, he responded:
When you ban the entry of experienced people altogether, what conversation will happen? Just recently, a former Muslim legislator wrote a letter to Kharge sahib, and within two days he was expelled from the party.Shakeel Ahmad
Is Shakeel Ahmad joining any other party?
Clarifying his position, Shakeel said:
If I speak the bitter truth today, it will harm the party, even though I am still a well-wisher of the party. I am saying this on record again, throughout my life I will not join any other party. My last vote will also go to Congress or its alliance.Shakeel Ahmad
From questioning Rahul Gandhi’s preference for political defectors to reflecting on Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, he speaks candidly about his relationship with Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Muslim leadership, and the power balance between Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. Watch the full conversation to hear him in his own words.