According to media reports, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest election from Wayanad constituency in Kerala as well. However, it seems that the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad constituency in Kerala has not gone down well with the other allies of the party. Communist Party of India (CPI), an ally of the Congress, slammed the Grand Old party stating that they are destroying the opposition’s unity.
In a recent interview to ANI, Prakash Karat, CPI (M) ex-General Secretary 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 its LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there.”
Prakash Karat, CPI(M) ex-General Secy: 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 pic.twitter.com/S3AShzSQpZ
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019
He went on to add, “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”.
Prakash Karat, CPI(M) ex-General Secy: 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. pic.twitter.com/uIjLgDhxF4
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019
On a similar note, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said, “He’s fighting in one of the 20 constituencies (in Kerala) & 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”.
Kerala CM P Vijayan on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad: He's fighting in one of the 20 constituencies(in Kerala)&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 pic.twitter.com/VYehOrfJb8
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019
Recently in an interview with Times of India journalist Swati Mathur, CPI’s National Secretary D Raja stated that Opposition unity will be hit if Rahul Gandhi contests against CPI. When asked about Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad, D Raja said, “If someone from Kerala fights against CPI, it is different. But if Rahul Gandhi, as president of Congress, contests against the Left, he must consider the message he is giving to the country. He must think whether going to Kerala is good.”
Wayanad is a rural district in Kerala and shares its borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, it has been a stronghold of Congress party. It seems that Congress party does not see Amethi as a safe seat anymore, so they are thinking of fielding Gandhi scion from Wayanad as well. In the Lok Sabha election of 2014, the then BJP candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani, gave a tough fight to the Gandhi scion. Moreover, the demography of Wayanad spells sure win for Rahul Gandhi as Muslim and Christian minorities together outnumber Hindu majority. In 2014 general election, Congress party won 44 seats; if the party is not sure of winning back the Amethi seat, they may have fielded him from any other seat but the fact that Wayanad has been chosen shows that Congress today is unconfident of winning in any Hindu majority constituency.
Whatsoever be the case, one thing is sure that, Congress’ decision of fielding Rahul from Wayanad has furthered the infighting in the opposition. And it will be interesting to see where it will take the so-called Mahagathbandhan of the opposition parties.