Abdul won't lay carpets: Owaisi's UP poll cry gets a Congress counter

For years, Abdul laid carpets, raised slogans and voted for the SP and Congress, says AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Now, he says Abdul will become an MLA or MP, instead of backing the Nehru-Gandhis and Yadavs. Owaisi's attack ahead of the 2027 UP election has a Congress counter.

In Short

• From 2021 to 2026, Owaisi turns Abdul into a call for Muslim support
• SP, Congress, RJD hit back as Owaisi targets political dynasties in UP
• Congress asks why he didn't create enough Muslim leaders in Hyderabad

A journalist in UP's Rampur asked the local Samajwadi Party MP, Mohibbullah Nadvi, where "Abdul" stood as parties prepared for the 2027 Assembly election. "Abdul-Abdul kya hota hai?" Nadvi shot back. He accused the journalist of making a mockery of an entire community and warned never to use the name again.

That was in the first week of October. Abdul is not a politician. But he has become an unlikely character of a political battle in poll-bound UP, where Muslims constitute 19.26% of the population, going by the 2011 Census.

At a rally, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he wanted "Abdul to stop laying carpets for the Nehru – Gandhis and the Yadavs" and become a leader himself. He explicitly meant the Congress and the SP. The political messaging and attack by Owaisi, who's hunting for new ground in UP, has visibly put the SP-Congress combine on the back foot.

While Owaisi's invocation of the Abdul metaphor has drawn criticism from the SP, the Congress and even the RJD, the leaders of the Congress from Owaisi's home turf Hyderabad have turned the question around. They asked Owaisi why he didn't create more Muslim leaders in his own state, Telangana.

Now, Owaisi doesn't just want Abdul to stop laying carpets. He has declared that he would become an MLA and MP. In an electric public rally in Rampur on October 18, he said that Abdul won't serve the SP and the Congress any more. Days later, on October 25, Owaisi sharpened his attack on SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at a rally in Kairana (in western UP). With an eye on UP's Muslim electorate, which has traditionally backed the SP-Congress combine, and buoyed by its five-seat victories in Bihar's Seemanchal region in both the 2020 and 2025 Assembly elections, Owaisi is keeping the Abdul metaphor alive ahead of the 2027 UP polls.

Owaisi has called for an "independent Muslim leadership in UP for the sake of the community's political agency" to emerge.

While some BJP leaders have used "Abdul" as a coded reference to Muslim men, often to portray them negatively, Owaisi has turned the slur into a symbol of Muslim political assertion. He wants them to stop helping others climb political ladders, and, instead, aspire to become MLAs and MPs. Mind you, the Abdul metaphor is not Owaisi's invention for the 2027 UP election. It's a political trope that has been around for years and evolved.

HOW ABDUL ENTERED UP POLITICS VIA OWAISI

The "Abdul laying carpet" metaphor was part of Owaisi's campaign back in 2021. Addressing a rally in Muzaffarnagar ahead of the 2022 UP Assembly election, Owaisi asked Muslims how long they would keep laying carpets for the SP, BSP, Congress and RLD.

According to a report in AajTak, Owaisi argued that poor Muslims needed an independent political voice instead of remaining a vote bank for other parties.

But Abdul acquired a more specific identity in a Rampur rally in April 2022. Fasahat Ali Khan Shanu, then a close aide of SP veteran Azam Khan, accused Akhilesh Yadav of neglecting Muslim supporters and failing to stand by the jailed leader.

"Dari bhi Abdul bichhayega, vote bhi Abdul dega aur jail bhi Abdul jayega," Shanu said. He meant that Abdul would lay carpets, cast votes and even go to prison, while others enjoyed political power.

The story took an unusual turn in November 2022. Shanu joined the BJP ahead of the Rampur Assembly bypoll. Azam Khan then used the same metaphor against his former associate, saying Abdul would now have to mop floors for the BJP, according to a PTI report.

Days after Shanu accused SP chief Akhilesh Yadav of neglecting Azam Khan, Owaisi's AIMIM invited the jailed SP leader to join its ranks. Abdul had become a political weapon and was being used by competing parties to attack each other. And, Owaisi continued using the metaphor after the 2022 UP election.

FROM LAYING CARPETS TO DEMANDING SEATS

In January 2024, Owaisi mocked Akhilesh Yadav's PDA alliance, saying, "UP ke PDA ke A vote dijiye aur dari bichayein aap log." He added, "Kariye jawani qurban lekin apne liye Rajya Sabha mein ek seat mat mangna 'bhaiya' se."

Akhilesh's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula has expanded beyond backward classes, Dalits and minorities to include upper castes, tribals and women. The SP chief said that "P" meant "Pandit".

In March 2024, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, after sitting Moradabad MP Syed Tufail Hasan was denied an SP ticket, Owaisi again targeted Akhilesh, saying, "Your leader only wants your vote, he wants you to keep 'laying the carpet' for him and 'sacrifice your youth for your brother'."

"It's a conspiracy to end the political representation of minorities," he said.

Owaisi's AIMIM couldn't win any Lok Sabha seat in UP. Then came an opportunity in Bihar. During the 2025 Assembly election campaign in Bihar's Gopalganj, Owaisi questioned why Bihar could not have a Muslim chief minister. "Why cannot a Muslim, who represents 17% of the state's population, become the chief minister?" Owaisi asked in October 2025, as he attacked the Mahagathbandhan's decision to project Vikassheel Insan Party chief Mukesh Sahani as its deputy chief ministerial candidate. He questioned why a leader from the Mallah community, which accounts for around 2.6% of Bihar's population, could be promised the deputy CM's post while Muslims, who constitute 17%, were not being considered for the top job.

In Bihar, the RJD has traditionally relied on its Muslim-Yadav (MY) vote bank, and Muslims form a key pillar of its electoral support, like the Samajwadi Party in UP.

In Bihar, Owaisi also urged Muslims to aspire to become legislators and head governments. The AIMIM won five seats, all in the Muslim-heavy Seemanchal region. It retained its 2020 tally by winning the same five constituencies it had won earlier.

NOW BEFORE UP POLLS, ABDUL TAKES ON NEHRU-GANDHIS AND YADAVS

Now, months before the UP 2027 polls, the Abdul metaphor has returned to Owaisi's messaging. At Bahraich in October, Owaisi complained that opposition parties expected Abdul to lay carpets, chant slogans, vote and return home. "Abdul just spreads the carpet, chants 'Long Live Bhai', votes for him, and then goes home," he said.

Two weeks later, at Tanda in Rampur district on October 18, he made his clearest declaration. "Abdul will become a leader, an MLA, an MP," Owaisi said, reported PTI. He also called to reject the community's dependence on the Nehru-Gandhi and Yadav families. "We will no longer make any Nehru, Gandhi, or any Yadav our leader. Young men and women standing in our ranks will become leaders." He added, "Abdul will become a leader, an MLA, an MP."

Seeking to position himself as a well-wisher of jailed SP veteran Azam Khan, Owaisi targeted Akhilesh Yadav over education, and questioned why Azamgarh colleges had not been granted university status while major educational institutions were developed in Saifai, the Yadav family's stronghold.

Then, in Kairana on October 25, Owaisi's attack became more personal. "Akhilesh Yadav, the name of your party should be changed from Samajwadi to Samajwadi Yadav Parivar," he declared. He also alleged that Yadav family members had occupied constituencies previously represented by Muslim politicians, according to ANI's report.

SP, CONGRESS AND RJD HIT BACK AT OWAISI

While Owaisi's attacks have put the SP-Congress combine on the backfoot, his remarks drew responses from the Opposition party leaders. SP spokesperson Abbas Haider accused Owaisi of pursuing "a divisive political agenda". He argued that the party's PDA platform represented a broader social coalition.

Congress leader Udit Raj accused Owaisi of presenting himself as the sole representative of all Muslims. "The BJP is becoming the contractor of Hindus, and he is becoming the contractor of Muslims," Udit Raj said.

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha defended India's pluralistic political traditions, saying, "India was never of one colour."

Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput also criticised Owaisi for attacking the Nehru-Gandhi political legacy.

Later on October 22, Akhilesh visited former jailed MP Azam Khan in Rampur jail and publicly reaffirmed his support for the veteran Muslim leader. Akhilesh described "Abdul" as "a religious and sacred word" and said people should avoid making political comments about it. He also attacked Owaisi, calling him the BJP's "B-team".

CONGRESS ASKS OWAISI, WHERE'S TELANGANA'S ABDUL?

The sharpest counter to Owaisi's AbduL metaphor, however, came from Owaisi's home state, Telangana. On October 23, Mohammed Waliullah Sameer, Congress's Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency in-charge, challenged the AIMIM chief's record of developing Muslim leadership. "What happened to Abdul in Telangana?" he asked.

Sameer questioned why AIMIM had confined its electoral presence to a few constituencies in and around Hyderabad despite preaching independent Muslim leadership in UP.

Khalid Saifullah Syed, the Congress chief of Hyderabad, questioned Owaisi's "Abdul" pitch and asked why the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat had remained with the Owaisi family since 1984. "Dari Abdul ki, kursi khandaan ki, aur taqreer Musalmanon ke haq ki," he said sarcastically on X.

Congress leader Shama Mohamed also asked why the AIMIM had contested only nine of Telangana's 119 Assembly constituencies in 2023.

Shabbir Ali, the adviser to the Congress-led Telangana government, questioned Owaisi's use of Abdul alongside references to carpets, beards and skullcaps. He argued that such imagery made Muslims appear like submissive followers, reported The Indian Express.

The AIMIM contested nine Telangana Assembly seats in 2023 and won seven, according to Election Commission data. In Uttar Pradesh in 2022, however, it failed to win a single seat and secured around 0.49% of the statewide vote.

Even as Owaisi's AIMIM retained its five seats in Bihar's Seemanchal region in the 2025 election, it faces a much tougher challenge in UP. The AIMIM failed to win a single seat in the 2022 UP Assembly election. Owaisi sought an alliance with the SP and Congress for 2027, but Akhilesh Yadav virtually shut the door, saying the existing SP-Congress alliance would continue.

Now, Owaisi is trying to build support independently, in Muslim-concentrated pockets of western UP, where he hopes to challenge the SP's base. Without a big alliance partner and with little electoral success in UP so far, turning his Abdul slogan into seats might be a difficult task.

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