The political bond between sections of the Muslim leadership and the Congress party has become an unending saga, with Congress leaders repeatedly backing demands raised by Muslim organisations in exchange for electoral support. This pattern has once again come under scrutiny in Kerala, where Congress leaders have come forward to defend Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, an organisation whose leaders have recently made open calls for the establishment of an Islamic state.
Reacting sharply to these developments, Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar slammed Kerala Congress leader V. D. Satheesan, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly for supporting Jamaat-e-Islami.
Satheesan had recently stated that Jamaat-e-Islami does not raise the demand for a theocratic state and claimed that the organisation has undergone changes. He further said that Jamaat-e-Islami supports the Congress and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) politically.
The Kerala BJP president countered Congress on ‘X’ by stating that a Jamaat-e-Islami leader has recently openly called for an Islamic Republic.
He asserted that Jamaat-e-Islami rejects Bharat’s democratic system and the Constitution, yet, in Kerala, the Congress leadership has chosen to join hands with Jamaat-e-Islami for votes.
Chandrasekhar said that claims made by Congress leaders about constitutional values are nothing but lies, adding that Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and V. D. Satheesan know exactly what Jamaat-e-Islami stands for. Despite this, he alleged, they have a long and shameful history of maintaining a soft corner for radical forces, justifying and defending their ideologies.
A Jamaat-e-Islami leader openly calls for an Islamic Republic. They reject Indian democracy. They reject our Constitution.
Yet in Keralam, @RahulGandhi’s Congress is partnering with Jamaat for votes, while lying about constitutional values.
Make no mistake.
Rahul,… pic.twitter.com/CbwR8bS0n1
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) January 21, 2026
He further said that by bringing such organisations into mainstream politics, the Congress and the UDF are legitimising ideologies that threaten Kerala’s and Bharat’s social and cultural fabric. Chandrasekhar pointed out that Jamaat’s politics had destroyed democracy in Bangladesh and led to the killing of many innocent members of minority communities, events that, he said, were witnessed by the entire world.
Chandrasekhar stated that Kerala cannot afford such politics, stressing that this is not routine political competition but a battle to protect Kerala’s soul. He alleged that the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI are birds of the same feather, engaging in communal politics.
He further said Keralites do not need lessons in what he termed “fake secularism”, but require jobs, skills, entrepreneurship, safety, peace and opportunities for their children, along with protection from radical politics.
The BJP Kerala president added that it was time to choose the BJP/NDA’s politics of performance, Vikasita Keralam, Surakshita Keralam and Vishwasa Samskarakshanam.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s post has assumed significance in the wake of recent demands by Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in favour of a theocratic Islamic state and republic.
Sheikh Muhammed Karakkunnu of Kerala stated that believers cannot reject an Islamic state, triggering a political debate in the state. The remarks drew strong reactions from nationalist forces, who alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami maintains close rapport with the Congress-led UDF.
Karakkunnu’s statement, they said, exposed Jamaat’s fundamental ideology of reordering society under “divine law”, directly challenging secularism and constitutional governance. Critics also drew parallels with the Sharia-based parliamentary system in Bangladesh and what they described as its imperialistic ambitions concerning Bharat’s North-East.
In January 2026, Sheikh Muhammed Karakkunnu, state secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, posted that “no believer who loves the Prophet can reject an Islamic State”.
The statement invited sharp criticism from the BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Even the CPM questioned the Congress–UDF’s association with Jamaat-e-Islami and asked the alliance to clarify its stance on Jamaat’s stated objective of establishing an Islamic Republic.
