Two top Congress leaders in Kerala on Saturday said they had requested their national president Rahul Gandhi to contest to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad constituency. Former Chief Minister and member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Oommen Chandy told reporters in Kollam that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has requested Mr Gandhi to contest the 2019 Parliamentary elections from the State. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra units of the Congress have also raised similar demands. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the KPCC and the United Democratic Front (UDF) had requested Mr. Gandhi to contest from Wayanad. He said Congress leader T. Siddique, who was considered for the seat initially, has agreed to withdraw his claim in favour of Mr Gandhi. Mr Chennithala said top Indian Union Muslim League leaders and other coalition partners agreed with the KPCC. He said the DCC president, Wayanad, I.C. Balakrishnan, has also raised a similar demand. "It is the Congress president who has to take a final call on the popular demand", he said. The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, since its formation in 2008, has overwhelmingly voted for the Congress. Congress leaders posited Wayanad as a "safe seat" for Mr Gandhi who is facing BJP leader and Union Minister for Textiles, Smriti Irani, as his main competitor in Amethi, the traditional constituency of the Gandhi family in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2014 elections, M I Shanavas of the Congress had defeated Satyan Mokeri of the CPI by a margin of 20,870 votes. Shanawaz, working president of the KPCC, died last year. In the 2009 elections, he had defeated CPI’s M. Rahmathulla by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. P.P. Suneer of the Communist Party of India is the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in Wayanad. The National Democratic Alliance has accorded the Wayanad seat to its coalition partner, the BDJS. The party was yet to announce its candidate for Wayanad.<doc-sep>The Congress’s Kerala unit chief said on Saturday that the party’s president Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from north Kerala’s Wayanad constituency and a formal announcement is expected on Sunday. Central functionaries of the party clarified that there is “a request” that is being “positively considered” by the high command. The Congress chief is currently the Lok Sabha member from Amethi and the party has announced that he will be the candidate from the constituency in this summer’s Lok Sabha polls too. But several Congress leaders from southern states have recently requested Gandhi to contest from their regions, claiming this will help strengthen the party’s position. “We have been requesting him (Gandhi) for some time (to contest from the state). When he visited the state in March first week we reminded him again. He is positive about this and a formal announcement will be made soon,” said Kerala Congress committee chief Mullapally Ramachandran. In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters that “lakhs of Congress workers and people of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have urged Rahul Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha from these states” and that the party will take a decision on the issue soon. “We thank them for their effort and also their expression of love and affection. The Congress president will positively consider it.” All India Congress Committee general secretary and former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, too, said a strong pitch has been made for Gandhi to contest from Wayanad. Congress leader T Siddique, widely tipped as the party’s Wayanad contender, told reporters in Kozhikode on Saturday that “it is great honour for me to vacate the seat for the PM-in-waiting...” The Congress’s Amethi district committee released a statement on Saturday evening saying it supports calls by southern colleagues. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani, who is set to fight Gandhi from Amethi, said the calls for Gandhi to contest from a southern seats was an eyewash. “Vacate the throne Rahul ji for the public is coming,” she said. Wayanad, a rural district that shares its borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, has been a Congress stronghold. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said there was no question of withdrawing the party candidate. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “While coming to Kerala he (Gandhi) gives an impression that Left parties are main rivals of the Congress, not the BJP.” Senior Left leaders, asking not to be named, said Gandhi’s contesting from Kerala could create an uneasy situation for the party.<doc-sep>Union Minister Smriti Irani, Rahul’s opponent in Amethi, said the people of Amethi had driven him out. (File) Union Minister Smriti Irani, Rahul’s opponent in Amethi, said the people of Amethi had driven him out. (File) Twenty years after Sonia Gandhi contested from two seats — Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Bellary in Karnataka — Congress president Rahul Gandhi is said to be actively considering contesting from a Lok Sabha constituency in South India besides his traditional seat of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress in Kerala indicated that he could contest from Wayanad, which is considered a party stronghold. The AICC did not deny the move, and neither did Rahul. While the AICC said a final decision is yet to be taken, top Congress leaders in Kerala — Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Mullappally Ramachandran — announced that they had urged Rahul to contest from Wayanad. And T Siddique, who was tipped to be the party’s candidate from Wayanad, pulled out from campaigning. Ramachandran said a final decision would be announced on Sunday. Explained Optics, insurance Meanwhile, the proposed move came under attack from both friends and foes. Union Minister Smriti Irani, Rahul’s opponent in Amethi, said the people of Amethi had driven him out. Apparently referring to reports about the PCC units in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu asking Rahul to pick a constituency from their states, she said this was being staged because the people had rejected Rahul. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Rahul would send the wrong message. “The Congress move is not in tune with the national political interest. When secular parties are making strong efforts to defeat the BJP, what message is he trying to send by contesting from Kerala. It gives the impression that it is the Left that has to be destroyed. The Congress should introspect the decision. His presence is not going to change the poll battle in Kerala,” he said. While Rahul took to Twitter to attack the BJP government, he was silent on the reports. Ramachandran, who earlier said Rahul had accepted the state PCC’s proposal, later said it was the state unit’s unanimous wish. “It is the request of the secular and democratic people of the state. We hope there will be a favourable decision,’’ he said. Explained: Introducing Wayanad, from where Rahul Gandhi could contest The PCC leaders in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been urging Rahul to pick a constituency from their states, arguing that his presence in the electoral fray in South India would give a big boost to the party across the region. The common refrain is that Sonia contested from two seats in 1999 — one from north and one from south — and that Indira Gandhi also picked a Lok Sabha constituency from South India — Chikmagalur in Karnataka — in the 1978 bypoll after Emergency. “The Kerala PCC unit has sent in their desire and request that Congress president should contest from there. We thank them for their effort as also expression of their love and affection, and the Congress president will positively consider it,” AICC communication department head Randeep Surjewala said in the afternoon. “Rahulji has, on more than one occasion, said that Amethi is his ‘Karambhoomi’ and shall always remain so. However, every time such a request or proposal comes, as desired by people of a particular state — in this case Kerala — we humbly bow and say, we thank you for your respect, affection and desire, and the Congress president will consider it in the same fashion,” he said. READ | Rahul Gandhi should contest Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad, urges Kerala Congress unit He later tweeted that similar demands had come from other southern states as well. “Southern state PCCs, lakhs of Congress workers & people of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala have urged Sh Rahul Gandhi to contest Lok Sabha from these states. INC is indebted for the affection & blessings. Their sentiments are deeply valued & respected. Party will take a decision,” he tweeted. A senior Congress leader told The Indian Express that Rahul is yet to make up his mind. But Chennithala said he had spoken to UDF constituents like Muslim League and Kerala Congress (M), and they were also of the view that Rahul should contest from Kerala. He said Rahul would win by over 5 lakh votes if he contests from Kerala. The Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front in Kerala, is contesting 16 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It has announced the names of 14 candidates — the party is yet to declare nominees for Wayanad and Vadakara. Former Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan, who quit as Governor to contest from Thiruvananthapuram, said the move showed that the Congress would be wiped out in the North and North-East. Also Read | 2019 Lok Sabha elections: Why retaining Amethi will be crucial for Rahul Gandhi The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, set up after delimitation in 2009, comprises seven Assembly constituencies — Kalpetta, Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery, Thiruvambady, Nilambur, Eranad and Vandoor. Of these, four are held by the CPI(M) and three by the Congress-led UDF. In 2009, Congress candidate M I Shanavas defeated CPI’s M Rahmathulla by over 1.5 lakh votes. In 2014, Shanavas retained the seat, but the victory margin shrunk to 20,000 votes. The seat fell vacant following Shanavas’s death in November 2018.<doc-sep>
Congress leaders in Kerala are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that their request to party chief Rahul Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad constituency would be accepted. Senior party leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the presence of Rahul Gandhi in the poll arena in Kerala would give a huge boost to party workers and that was why they wanted him to contest from Wayanad as a second constituency. "However, the final decision has to be taken by Gandhi. He returned to Delhi late after campaigning in Patna," Chandy told reporters onMarch 24. The Congress has already announced that Gandhi would be contesting from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Another senior leader P C Chacko said the party chief was yet to confirm if he would contest from Wayanad. "Nothing has been decided on Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad. He is the one who should decide on that. It's not right on the part of certain leaders making statements that Rahul has agreed or Rahul has responded positively. I don't know who is spreading lies. Don't dream of putting pressure on Rahul and force him to become a candidate," Chacko said. It was not right to "spread rumours" in this regard, Chacko said. He also said that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) was not happy with the factional war in the Congress unit in Kerala. Opposition leader in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala demanded that the CPI(M) clarify whether they would withdraw the Left candidate in Wayanad if Rahul Gandhi contests from there. Senior CPI(M) leader S Ramachandran Pillai said whichever candidate the UDF brings in Kerala, LDF will put up a fight. The LDF will fight the Congress chief politically in the Lok Sabha election if he contests in Wayanad, he said. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said his party, which is contesting in the Wayanad seat for the Left Democratic Front (LDF), was not going to withdraw its candidate for a stronger one. "Wayanad constituency has got a good presence of LDF voters since the last Assembly election. P P Suneer is the best candidate to fight Rahul Gandhi. I think it's Rahul's fate to lose to Suneer in this election," Rajendran told reporters, BJP state President P S Sreedharan Pillai said they would fight tooth and nail if Rahul Gandhi contests in Wayanad. The state BJP leadership is also keeping a close watch on the recent development of talks on Rahul's candidature and the party was holding discussions to take back the Wayanad seat from its ally BDJS. Springing a surprise, the Congress in Kerala had on March 23 suggested party chief Rahul Gandhi's name for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, a party bastion in the State. Meanwhile, jubiliant youth congress workers in Wayanad poured milk on a huge cutout of Rahul Gandhi as part of their celebration this morning.