LS polls: Kerala unit of Congress urges Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad

Rahul Gandhi has been urged by the party leadership in Kerala to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad, which he currently represents in Parliament, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said on Wednesday (February 28).

Also read: Should Rahul contest Wayanad seat? Left vs Congress shadow battle in full swing

Indicating that a final decision is yet to be taken on Rahul's constituency, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan said the party's national leadership and the central election committee would decide in this regard.

'Political situation in Kerala is different'

He said that the party's state unit strongly demanded the national leadership that Rahul contest from Wayanad.

"The Kerala unit of the Congress party, not just the KPCC but the entire UDF, has demanded that he contest from Wayanad," Satheesan said.

When reporters pointed out that CPI's national leader Annie Raja would be contesting from the seat, he said though the Congress and the Left party were members of the INDIA alliance at the national level, it doesn't matter while contesting from Kerala.

"The political situation in Kerala is different. Everybody knows this," he said.

The LoP also pointed out that the CPI was with the Congress at the national level during the previous Lok Sabha polls too.

Rahul's massive win in 2019

He also said the Congress, the DMK, the CPI, and the CPI(M) had fought the previous general elections together in Tamil Nadu and even the two Marxist party MPs had sought votes with posters of Rahul Gandhi there.

"If such a thing had happened in Tamil Nadu, would the candidates of the CPI(M) do the same thing in Kerala?" he asked and said things were different here.

Rahul won by a massive majority of over four lakh votes from Wayanad in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

(With agency inputs)