Rahul Gandhi to fight from two seats.
Ending all speculations, Congress on Sunday announced that party President Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad constituency in Kerala. There was intense speculation regarding whether Congress President will fight from two seats earlier.
On Sunday, senior Congress leader AK Anthony said: "Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala."
Alongside, Wayanad, Rahul will be also contesting from Amethi, which he has won since 2004. Earlier Amethi Congress had passed a resolution urging Rahul Gandhi to also contest from South India like Indira and Sonia Gandhi has done in the past.
BJP President Amit Shah reacted to the development accusing Rahul Gandhi of using politics of polarisation to win from Kerala.
Congress is fighting 16 out of 20 seats in Kerala. The rest seats have being given to allies which are part of UDF in Kerala. The party although out of power in Kerala hopes to do well in the Lok Sabha election in the state and Rahul Gandhi's presence is likely to be a big boost to the campaign. Incidentally decision comes at a day when Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Congress had earlier said that many leaders from South Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have urged Rahul Gandhi to contest from their states and the party is positively considering their request.
Wayanad is a constituency which has come into existence in 2009. Congress has won the seat both times. Rahul Gandhi will be up against PP Suneer of CPI. BJP is yet to declare their candidate. Left has reacted strongly to Rahul Gandhi standing from Wayanad.
Prakash Karat said, " To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose & in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad."
1. Congress will have to explain: Yechury
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CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Sunday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting against Left Democratic Front (LDF) from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency conveys a message which the party will have to explain to the people.
"Coming here and fighting against LDF, what message does this convey that Congress will have to decide. Any party can decide which candidate will contest from which seat but what is the message they want to convey, they will have to explain to the people," Yechury said.
Emphasising that priority is to remove BJP, the CPI(M) leader said: "We are very clear, this election is an important one that will decide whether a secular democracy will survive or not. Removing BJP is our priority."Congress today announced that Rahul will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, to further strengthen the unity of North and South.
In its first list released on March 7, Congress had announced that Rahul will contest from Amethi.
In 2014, Rahul faced a tough fight from Smriti Irani in Amethi. While the Congress president bagged 4,08,651 votes, Irani polled 3,00,748 votes thinning the victory margin to just over 1 lakh.
On March 15, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had offered the Congress president to contest from Karnataka.
Earlier, former Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy had requested Rahul to contest from Wayanad constituency.
2. Amit Shah's reaction to Rahul's Wayanad candidature
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Amit Shah in an election rally said, ' I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation."
3. Why a seat in Kerala?
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The Congress is hoping to do well in South India to replenish its weakness in other parts of the country. In Kerala the party is in strong wicket. As part of DMK alliance, Congress is a formidable force in Tamil Nadu too. In Karnataka, the JD(S)-Congress alliance is hoping to stop the BJP juggernaut.
So, the Congress believes getting Rahul to contest from Kerala will give boost to its South India campaign.
4. Will fight to defeat Rahul Gandhi: Prakash Karat
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Former CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat has reacted strongly to the news of Rahul Gandhi contesting from left bastion of Kerala. Karat said, " Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there."
"To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose & in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad."
5. Smriti Irani had earlier mocked Rahul for considering Wayanad
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She had tweeted a proposal adopted by Amethi Congress which supported the demand of Congress members from South India who want Rahul Gandhi to contest from there. Rahul Gandhi since 2004 has been winning from Amethi.
Smriti Irani tweeted in Hindi, 'Amethi ne Bhagaya, Jagah Jagah se bulaye ke swang rachaye, kyunki janate ne thukraya, which translates to, Rahul Gandhi forced to flee from Amethi as public has rejected him and hence all this drama of people wanting him to contest from the whole country is being scripted.
With agency inputs
6. What did Vijayan say earlier
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"Congress needs to think what is the message they are trying to send out. The message is that it is not the BJP they are fighting, but the LDF," he said when the initial talks were going on.
