Called ‘Pakistani’ by Rajasthan BJP MLA, Rafeek Khan refuses identity politics: ‘A Congress leader is leader for all’

On his part, Khan laughed off Sharma’s remarks and responded to him with poetry. “Un ka jo farz hai vo ahal-e-siyaasat jaanen, mera paigaam mohabbat hai jahan tak pahunche (The people of politics should know their duty; my message of love should reach wherever it can),” he said.

It is partly because of measured responses like these that Khan’s political capital has been growing in recent years, especially in the last five when he has been in the thick of things in Rajasthan, be it in the Assembly or outside.

This also means that it was not the first time he has had to face taunts at the hands of the BJP. In August 2020, after Khan had accused the Centre of being busy with hosting US President Donald Trump during his first term, and ignoring the Covid-19 situation, BJP MLAs yelled “Tablighi”. Then state Health Minister Raghu Sharma had told BJP MLAs to “keep their communal angle out of the issue”.

During the 2023 Assembly elections, Khan was again in the spotlight after his opponent from Adarsh Nagar, Ravi Nayyar, broke down during a press conference accusing his political rivals of “poisoning and killing three cows”.

More recently, around this time last year, Gopal Sharma clashed with Khan during a board meeting of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation Heritage. A scuffle broke out between the corporators of both parties after Sharma said he would not allow Jaipur to become “mini-Pakistan”. Sharma went on to claim that Khan was trying to become “Jaipur ka Jinnah”, a reference to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder.

Ask him about these instances and Khan says, “It is indeed painful but we don’t stoop to their level. Hence, I responded (to Sharma’s taunts) with a sher. As our leader Rahul Gandhi says, ‘Nafrat ke bazaar mein muhabbbat ki dukaan’ (a shop of love in a market of hate)’.”

However, on Monday, Khan broke down while talking to journalists, “I haven’t been able to sleep for the last couple of nights. I was abused inside the House…I am happy my father is no more because had I been abused while he was alive, he wouldn’t have been able to bear it. Is it criminal to be a Muslim MLA? If it is so, then BJP should bring a law in the Assembly and say that no Muslim MLA can be elected,” he said.

Khan, who was first elected as an MLA in 2018 by defeating former state BJP chief Ashok Parnami, saw his political fortunes rise dramatically during the previous Ashok Gehlot government’s tenure when he worked closely with then Congress Chief Whip, Mahesh Joshi. The Adarsh Nagar MLA played a key role in times of crisis, especially the one in 2020 when the then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot led a ‘rebellion’ against Gehlot.

In April 2021, Joshi and Khan led the arrangement for hosting 20 Opposition MLAs elected in the Assam Assembly polls, amid fears of poaching by the BJP. In February the following year, he was appointed as the chairperson of the Rajasthan State Commission for Minorities. This opened more avenues for him as he toured the state to take up issues faced by the minorities.

The party turned to Khan again amid fears of cross-voting ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in June 2022, when he oversaw preparations for sequestering Congress MLAs in Udaipur. Three months later, he was a key member of the Gehlot camp who led a boycott of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, thwarting a bid by the high command to choose a new CM, said to be Pilot.

In July 2023, Khan was the first to intervene when a scuffle broke out within the Assembly between sacked minister Rajendra Gudha and then Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal.

In the Assembly elections held later that year, Khan defeated the BJP’s Nayyar to retain his seat; as per Khan’s affidavit then, his assets were valued at over Rs 50 crore with declared liabilities of Rs 30 crore.

Khan was appointed the Congress’ chief whip in July last year. A month later, he hit the headlines again after ex-CRPF officer Vikas Jakhar was detained for allegedly trying to assault Khan outside the latter’s residence. With the incident being quickly portrayed as Jat vs Muslim on social media, some Congress leaders said that the idea perhaps was to create a rift between the two communities which had rallied behind the Congress during the Lok Sabha polls.

Last week, the Adarsh Nagar MLA grabbed the spotlight after the Assembly Speaker rejected his question seeking details of the Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit citing Rules of Procedure, terming his queries “hypothetical” and of “excessive length”.

Although he has frequently raised the issues concerning minorities, Khan’s words and actions have so far ensured he is not compartmentalised as a Muslim leader. His choice of attire, shirt and trousers, also contributes to his broader appeal.

On whether he risks alienating his non-Muslim constituents by speaking up on minority issues, he says, “a Congress leader is the leader of all 36 quam (all communities).”

The state may have a political vacuum when it comes to Muslim leadership – one which the AIMIM has unsuccessfully tried to fill – yet Khan says this is ending as there is more and more awareness in the community. He says after two Muslims MLAs won from Jaipur – the other being Amin Kagzi – as many as 30 Muslim councillors were elected to JMC, Heritage.

However, it still has a long way to go. Recently, the Assembly witnessed a week-long impasse after the Congress objected to a minister referring to former PM Indira Gandhi as “aapki daadi (your grandmother)”. In comparison, the “Pakistani” barb against one of its MLAs has seen little outrage by the Congress.