Ending the week long speculation, Congress on Sunday announced that party president Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad in Kerala as his second Lok Sabha constituency.
The Congress has already announced Gandhi’s candidature in his traditional seat Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
The announcement was made by senior Congress leader and former Union Minister AK Antony at a press conference addressed by him along with AICC General secretary K C Venugopal, AICC Kerala incharge Mukul Wasnik and AICC media incharge Randeep Surjewala.
“For the last few weeks, many Congress workers and leaders have requested Rahul Gandhi to contest from Southern seat. Finally he has given his consent. I am happy to inform you that he will contest from Wayanad Parliamentary constituency from Kerala”, said the senior Congress leader .
Addressing the press conference, Mr Antony said,’ there were many requests from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. So one of the major reason for consideration was that it is a trijunction of 3 southern states.’
“It is situated in Kerala, but also surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In a way it will satisfy the requests of three southern states”, Mr Antony added.
Responding to a question that whether Mr Gandhi was not sure about his winning from Amethi, Mr Surjewala asked, “why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. Smriti Irani will complete a hat trick of losses.”
“This is a message to the southern states that they are deeply valued and respected. Rahul ji has said that he will represent Amethi but will also represent southern states as they are an important part of
India’s way of life”, Mr Surjewala added.
The Congress spokesperson also said that this is a fight to espouse the aspirations of South India.
“This is a fight to give a befitting reply to those forces that attack cultures, languages, way of life and also the deep connect between North and South India between which BJP has created a division”, he said.
Wayanad is considered as a stronghold for United Democratic Front (UDF), in which Congress’ ally Indian Union Muslim League has a strong presence at the constituency.
