It is official now―Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad constituency in Kerala in the coming Lok Sabha elections besides fighting from the family bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
The announcement was made on Sunday by senior Congress leader A.K. Antony, who said the decision was driven by demands that were made by party units in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that Rahul should contest from there.
“Finally, he has given his consent. I am happy to inform you that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad parliamentary constituency from Kerala,” Antony said addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters.
He said that over the last few weeks, many Congress leaders and workers from the southern states had requested the party president to contest from a seat in Southern India. “This decision satisfies their demand,” he said, pointing out that the choice of Wayanad was based on the fact that it lies in the confluence of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
“It is situated in Kerala, but is also surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In a way, it will satisfy the requests of the three southern states,” Antony said.
The decision to contest from a second seat appears to have been made considering various factors, including the fact that a hostile government is in place in Uttar Pradesh. There are fears that the Yogi Adityanath regime could make matters difficult for the Congress in Amethi, which has been a stronghold of the Gandhi family. This would be in addition to the aggressive and high voltage campaign by BJP's Smriti Irani, who has been nominated by her party to take on Rahul.
Irani had contested unsuccessfully against Rahul in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, but ever since, she has concentrated her attention on the constituency with frequent visits and initiatives. The BJP is said to be particularly keen to vanquish the Gandhis in Amethi and Rae Bareli. On the other hand, Wayanad, also a Congress stronghold, is considered to be a safe seat. In the general elections in 2009 and 2014, Congress' M.I. Shanavas had won the constituency by defeating the CPI.
Rejecting the BJP's taunt that Rahul was running away from the contest in Amethi after Irani's entry into the fray, Randeep Surjewala, head of the AICC's communications department, reminded that Irani has been defeated twice in the Lok Sabha elections―first in Chandni Chowk in 2004 and then in Amethi in 2014.
Rahul, in his decision to contest from Wayanad, would be following in the footsteps of grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi, both of whom have contested Lok Sabha elections from constituencies in the south. Indira had contested the Lok Sabha bye-elections in 1978 from Chikmagalur in Karnataka, and won. This victory was the turning point for Indira whose political stock had dipped in the aftermath of the Emergency. In the general elections in 1980, Indira contested from Medak in Andhra Pradesh in addition to Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. She won from both the seats and chose to retain Medak.
Sonia, making her electoral debut in the Lok Sabha elections in 1999, fought from Amethi in UP and Bellary in Karnataka. She won from both the seats, choosing to keep Amethi.