Wayanad Lok Sabha Contest Gets High-Profile With The Entry Of CPI, Rahul Gandhi Unlikely To Budge

Will Rahul Gandhi contest again from Wayanad (Kerala) Lok Sabha, a seat that he had secured by a comfortable margin in 2019? Or will he again look for a safe seat in Karnataka, Telangana or UP? What triggered the buzz was that the CPI announced it was fielding Annie Raja, the wife of the party’s general secretary D Raja, from Wayanad. It was felt it will not “look good” for the I.N.D.I.A front that one of the prominent leader’s wife will be contesting against Rahul Gandhi. Congress leaders from Kerala, however, made it clear that securing the seat wasn’t going to be an issue. “If Rahulji decides to contest from the seat, he will secure it. He is currently abroad (away to the UK for a lecture) and he has to decide. As for who is LDF fielding against Rahulji is not our concern,” said a top AICC functionary. Party sources also made it clear that his second seat, if any, would not be from the South. It could only be from UP now that an alliance with the Samajwadi Party has been stitched.   Meanwhile, CPI’s D Raja also made it clear that the Wayanad contest should be purely seen as a UDF versus LDF battle, and not as a clash between Rahul Gandhi and his wife.  Congress sources also pointed out that the issue of IUML’s claims over the Wayanad seat — a constituency with Muslim majority voters — had been settled.