Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is a “completely secular party”. He was interacting with journalists at the National Press Club in Washington DC during his ongoing visit to the United States.

“Muslim League is a completely secular party, there is nothing non-secular about them. I think the person (reporter) hasn’t studied the Muslim League,” Rahul said.

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Rahul was responding to questions from journalists during a conversation at the National Press Club in Washington.

Addressing the issue of the Opposition uniting ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, Rahul said that the outcome will surprise people. “I think the Congress party will do very well in the next two years… I think there is a hidden undercurrent building… I think (the outcome) will surprise people.”

Rahul further said that the Opposition is getting increasingly united and significant ground is being covered in what he termed as a “complicated discussion”.

It’s a complicated discussion because there are spaces where we have competing also with (other) Opposition (parties). So, it’s a little bit of give and take as required. But I’m confident that that will happen,” he said.

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Rahul also exuded confidence that the Congress will repeat its Karnataka performance in the coming Assembly elections in states abd said that the outcome of these elections could prove an indicator of the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

The IUML, a party based out of Kerala with its base primarily comprising Muslims, has been a committed Congress ally for over five decades. It is a part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance in Kerala and has also been a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.

The party is known to wield significant influence in north Kerala districts that have a high Muslim population. When Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in 2019, green flags of the IUML outnumbered Congress flags, drawing allegations from the BJP that these were Pakistani flags.

The Muslim League currently has 15 seats in the 140-member Kerala assembly, one Rajya Sabha seat and three MPs in the Lok Sabha.