It is an open war within the Malerkotla district Congress unit, triggered by the aggressive interference of Mohammad Mustafa, a former Director General of Punjab Police. The situation has forced Jassi Khangura, a former Kila Raipur MLA, and several other loyal Congress supporters to push back in self-defence.
Khangura and scores of local Congress supporters have strongly objected to Mustafa’s repeated and unwarranted interference in the party’s day-to-day functioning, even though he holds no official position whatsoever in the Congress.
Mustafa has never been directly involved in electoral politics. It was his wife, Razia Sultana, who remained active in the Congress — first as a legislator and later as a minister. Mustafa, meanwhile, served in the Punjab Police and allegedly used his official clout to support his wife’s political interests. Originally from Uttar Pradesh, he married Malerkotla resident Razia Sultana after getting the Punjab cadre in the IPS. Since then, he has been accused of trying to dominate district politics using his police connections. Many local Congress supporters, particularly from the Muslim community, have long resented what they see as interference by an outsider trying to control local affairs.
Now retired, Mustafa is openly projecting his daughter, Nishat, as the family’s political heir. She was recently appointed president of the District Congress Committee in the state’s smallest district.
Further tarnishing Mustafa’s image is the ongoing CBI probe into the suspicious death of his son, Aqil Akhtar, in Panchkula in October 2025. The family stated that the death was due to a drug overdose, and the body was cremated in their native village in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. However, a complaint filed by their neighbour, Shamshuddin Chaudhary from Malerkotla, alleged foul play and murder, citing a video recorded by the son days before his death. Haryana
Police registered an FIR against Mustafa, Razia Sultana and other family members. Citing Mustafa’s influence, the case was later transferred to the CBI, which has now booked the former DGP, his wife and others under charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Jassi Khangura, on the other hand, has been consistently working among the people in the Amargarh Assembly segment of Malerkotla district. The simmering tension escalated when Mustafa launched a direct and unprovoked attack on Khangura during a District Congress Committee meeting that he himself hosted at his private residence.
During the meeting, Mustafa allegedly claimed that Khangura was planning to leave the Congress, join the Shiromani Akali Dal and contest on its ticket. Khangura, sensing that the meeting was being hijacked by someone with no official authority, chose not to attend the gathering at Mustafa’s residence and only deputed his assistant.
Reacting sharply to the baseless allegations and the unauthorised use of the party platform, a visibly hurt Khangura said Mustafa had “lost his balance” and needed immediate medical treatment. He also questioned how a person with no position in the Congress could call and preside over a DCC meeting at his own residence and level accusations against a senior and loyal Congress leader.
Malerkotla and Amargarh are twin Assembly segments. Supporters fear that Mustafa’s aggressive posture and interference against a grassroots Congress leader like Khangura, just a year before the polls, could damage the party at a crucial time.
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