Shakeel Ahmad (ANI image)
NEW DELHI: Days after calling Rahul Gandhi “darpok” (coward) and “insecure”, former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad on Tuesday claimed that his residence faces a threat of attack. He shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp message which he alleged was circulated by party members, calling on district and assembly-level leaders to burn his effigy in protest over his “inappropriate statements” about Rahul Gandhi.Sharing the chats on X, Ahmad wrote: “Now my information has turned out to be absolutely spot on. Many thanks to the old mates from Congress. There’s a saying in our Bihar that old friends are the ones who come in handy. Is this happening without Rahul ji’s orders?” The message he posted read: “Former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad has been continuously making inappropriate statements about our respected leader Shri Rahul Gandhi. The top leadership has directed that all District Presidents and Assembly Presidents should, in their respective areas, burn an effigy of Shakeel Ahmad on 27/12/2026 to register strong protest.”Escalating the spat further, in a post late Monday, Ahmad further alleged that the Congress leadership in Bihar has “ordered” party workers to attack his residence.“Just now, some colleagues from the Congress have secretly informed me that the Congress national leadership has ordered the Bihar Congress/Youth Congress to attack my residences in Patna and Madhubani tomorrow, January 27, under the pretext of burning an effigy,” he wrote on X. The controversy follows Ahmad’s scathing remarks about Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi is a coward and an insecure person. He does not get that ‘boss feeling’ before anyone who is senior to him or has a big public support. He is uncomfortable with any such person and is thus dictatorial and not democratic,” he told PTI.Congress leader Manickam Tagore hit back, calling Ahmad a “betrayer” and “Jaichand”. “I am not shocked. Just saddened, yet again,? by how betrayal becomes loud when courage walks the longest road,” Tagore wrote on X, adding that such attacks were about “TV time, relevance and pleasing new masters”.Ahmad, a former Union minister and ex-Congress general secretary who quit the party after the 2025 Bihar elections, has also accused Gandhi of sidelining senior leaders and influencing the 2022 party presidential poll in favour of Mallikarjun Kharge.
