As Congress President Rahul Gandhi chooses to contest from Wayanad in Kerala after fearing a defeat at the hands of Union Minister Smriti Irani in Amethi, the Communists seems to have taken offence to Congress party’s decision to fight against them in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to the reports, CPI(M) ex-General Secretary Prakash Karat cried foul over Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy from Wayanad, Kerala. Karat claimed that the Congress party’s decision indicated that the party’s priority has now become to fight the Left, contrary to Congress’ national commitment to fight BJP.
“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,” lamented Prakash Karat.
The Communists seems to be desperate to win some seats in Kerala but Congress President’s decision to contest from Kerala has unnerved them and are crying foul over it. Even controversial Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed the same anguish as he said that the left will anyway fight Rahul Gandhi but added that he should have contested against the BJP.
“He is fighting in one of the 20 constituencies in Kerala and doesn’t need to be seen as any different. We’ll fight him. He should’ve contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting, it’s nothing but a fight against Left,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.
Interestingly, the contest in Wayanad is a lot more interesting as Congress had fielded a Muslim candidate MI Shanavas in 2014 Lok Sabha against the CPI(M) candidate. The Congress candidate had won with a very low margin of 21,000 votes. In 2019, the CPI(M) has fielded a Muslim candidate PP Suneer against Rahul Gandhi in a seat where Muslims and Christians make half of the population making it a tough battle for Rahul Gandhi.
Sensing a defeat in his bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh against Union Minister Smriti Irani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The speculations of Rahul Gandhi contesting from a minority dominated constituency was on the cards as some of the senior Congress leaders had hinted that Rahul Gandhi might find it hard to secure a victory in Hindu majority constituency like Amethi. The Congress president was reportedly looking for a safe seat for that reason. Hence, Congress Party is on a contingency plan to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, which has 29% Muslim votes and another 21% Christian votes.
