The Congress president and the United Democratic Front candidate Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections from the Wayanad constituency, from where he will be contesting apart from the family pocketborough of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul was accompanied by his sister and AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, former state chief minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC President Mullapally Ramachandran and the leader of the opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala.
Wyanad is one of the newest constituencies in the country, having been carved out during the delimitation exercise in 2008. In the elections held the following year and the last Lok Sabha polls in 2104, the Congress had romped home in the constituency which has a majority population of Muslims. Rahul’s main opponents are CPI’s PP Suneer from the Left Democratic Front and NDA’s Tushar Vellapally who is the youth leader of a regional party, the BDJS which is an alliance of the BJP.
The CPM and the BJP have both criticized Rahul’s decision to contest from Wayanad. The CPI (M) said it proved that the Congress considered the Left a bigger enemy than the BJP, while the ruling party at the Centre said Rahul’s decision to opt for a “safe” seat in the south betrayed apprehensions about an impending defeat in Amethi where he is pitted against Union Minister Smriti Irani. But despite the hyperbole, most political observers feel Rahul’s victory is a foregone conclusion as the Wayanad is considered to be one of the safest seats for the Congress in the entire country.
In previous elections, both Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had contested polls from two constituencies. While Indira had contested from Chikmagalur in Karnataka and Medak in Andhra Pradesh in addition to her traditional Rae Bareilly seat, Sonia Gandhi had contested from Bellary in 1999 apart from Rae Bareilly.
—India Legal Bureau
You might also be interested in: