NEW DELHI: A day after former Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed’s scathing remarks against Rahul Gandhi, veteran leader Rashid Alvi on Sunday said that the lack of an effective platform for dialogue and limited access to the top leadership has created a serious communication gap within the organisation.Speaking to news agency ANI, Alvi said party workers complain that it is not easy to meet the Congress high command.“I haven’t seen Shakeel ji’s statement, but a major problem in the Congress party is that there is no forum where issues can be discussed. It is generally difficult to meet leaders. If people want to express their concerns, where can they go? Not everyone is a member of the CWC. There is definitely a communication gap. This is a major problem within the Congress party, and many people complain that it is not easy to meet the Congress high command. This communication gap must be eliminated,” Alvi said.He added that former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi made time to meet everyone.Alvi also raised concerns over the exit of several Muslim leaders from the grand old party and said that if Muslim leadership continues to be ignored, leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi will keep emerging.“Muslim leaders have not left out of greed for power. They have left, and this is a matter of concern, because Muslim leadership has been ignored in the Congress party,” Alvi said.“If Muslim leadership is ignored, then leaders like Owaisi will continue to emerge in the country. Today, Owaisi is becoming a powerful force,” he added.‘Must engage in comprehensive internal dialogue’Meanwhile, Congress leader Anant Gadgil also called for urgent “introspection” following the party’s lacklustre performance in the recent Maharashtra municipal elections.He said the Congress must reconnect with its core workers and rural base to survive. Gadgil stressed that the party needs to look inward at a time when the political discourse is dominated by the BJP’s victory and internal bickering within the ruling Mahayuti over mayoral posts.“Instead of holding any single individual responsible, the party must engage in a comprehensive internal dialogue,” Gadgil said.He also said that with rapid urbanisation in Maharashtra, the Congress must promote leaders who command genuine public respect and middle-class support, moving beyond the traditional arithmetic of “money and caste”.This comes after former Congress MP Shakeel Ahmed attacked Rahul Gandhi over the party’s consistent electoral failures.Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed said, “Even if Rahul Gandhi wants, he still can’t take Congress below the second position. The reason is that every other party is only in one state.”He also claimed that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is “uncomfortable” collaborating with popular veteran leaders.“There is no internal democracy in the Congress party. Whatever Rahul Gandhi says is final,” Ahmed alleged.This is not the first time a party leader has complained about lack of access to the Congress leadership. Recently, former Odisha MLA Mohammed Moquim wrote to Sonia Gandhi, calling for “open-heart surgery” in the party and flagging a growing disconnect between the leadership and workers.In his five-page letter, Moquim said he had not been granted an audience with Rahul Gandhi for nearly three years. “This is not a personal grievance … but a reflection of a wider emotional disconnect felt by workers across India, who feel unseen and unheard,” he wrote.