'Rahul Gandhi Should Fight From BJP's Stronghold, Not From Kerala': CPI(M) Slams Congress

CPI (M) leader Subhashini Ali raised a question regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's candidacy from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and asked why the Congress leader is not fighting from the BJP stronghold.

New Delhi: While the Congress-led INDIA bloc vouches for its unity, it has failed to resolve differences within some states including Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab. The major challenge for the Congress party is evolving in Kerala where the ruling Left has refused a seat-sharing alliance and has even fielded its candidate from Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad seat against him. Now, CPI (M) leader Subhashini Ali raised a question on Tuesday regarding the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's candidacy from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Annie Raja. Ali asked why the Congress leader is not fighting the BJP head-on adding that Rahul Gandhi should fight from the BJP's stronghold which is Uttar Pradesh.

"Congress Party is claiming that they are leading the joint fight against the BJP. Then why is their biggest leader contesting elections from Kerala, where there is no fight with the BJP? He should fight from Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP has the biggest stronghold. If he defeats the BJP there, it will have a huge impact," she told to ANI.

She further added that Rahul Gandhi should think about what message he is giving by fighting the election from Wayanad. Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also slammed Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency against Annie Raja.

"Rahul Gandhi is contesting against Annie Raja, who is a well-known left leader nationally. She strongly called out the Bharatiya Janata Party's government (BJP) in the Manipur issue and she was attacked by calling her anti-national. But what is Rahul Gandhi's role in this? We can see Annie Raja's presence in every protest that is happening in the country. But we can't see Rahul Gandhi, a prominent leader in Congress, among such protesters," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Rahul Gandhi and Annie Raja are contesting against each other from the Wayanad constituency for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The BJP has nominated Kerala state President K Surendran as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from the constituency.