The decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi, the party’s candidate for Wayanad parliamentary constituency, from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli seat as well has evoked a mixed response.
The decision of his sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to not enter the electoral fray either from Rae Bareli or Amethi may have necessitated Mr. Gandhi’s shift to the contest the seat held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for two decades.
However, his main opponent and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate from the constituency Annie Raja said Mr. Gandhi should have revealed this earlier to the voters in Wayanad. “He should have shown the political morality. He should have informed the people of Wayanad about Rae Bareli. It is not acceptable that he kept this fact away from the people in Wayanad,” Ms. Annie Raja said.
K. Surendran, Bharatiya Janata Party State President and National Democratic Alliance candidate for the constituency, said Mr. Gandhi’s decision to contest in Rae Bareli has proved that he was the biggest coward in Indian politics.
“If he was contesting in Amethi he could have claimed that it was to recoup his lost constituency. But he was contesting from a constituency where the Congress had won in the last election, again proving Mr. Gandhi was a coward,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi had claimed that the people of Wayanad were his family, but now he cheated his family members,” he said. “He was not only cheating the public but also the Congress and Muslim League cadres, who had worked for him, he added.
Defending Mr. Gandhi, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.K. Kunhalikutty said there was nothing wrong with his decision to contest from Rae Bareli. “The IUML had requested the Congress party’s national leadership that Rahul should contest from one more seat other than Wayanad, he said. Did not PM Modi contest from two seats? We feel that this decision will boost the INDIA bloc,” said Mr. Kunhalikutty.
Residents’ views
S. Meera, a voter from Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad district, expressed her displeasure at Mr. Gandhi’s candidature from Rae Bareli, calling it wrong and akin to cheating the voters. “He won Wayanad, considered a UDF stronghold, by a margin of more than four lakh votes in 2019, why should the Congress leadership field him in Raebareli,” asked Ms. Meera.
Not everyone is critical of his candidacy from the northern State, considering its proximity to the capital. “His candidature in Rae Bareli will strengthen the INDIA bloc in the north Indian States. Moreover, if the INDIA bloc comes to power, Mr. Gandhi will be the Prime Minister. In such a situation, the decision to contest in a constituency near the capital will benefit the country and the voters,” said K. Abdulrahman, a hill produce dealer.
“Rahul Gandhi can contest from anywhere in the country, but he should have informed the Wayanad electorate before the elections held on April 26,” Mathew, an autorickshaw driver at Panamaram, said.
Meanwhile, K.P. Arun, a farmer Pulpally, expressed hope that the “Congress leader would vacate the Rae Bareli seat after winning the polls as he considered the people of Wayanad his family members.”
