Lok Sabha election 2019: Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Wayanad seat in Kerala

Congress president Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Wayanad constituency in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, according to reports on Saturday.

A proposal has been offered to the Congress chief by the top Congress leaders in Kerala, including AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala. Rahul is said to be considering the proposal and will take a call. 

Wayanad is a stronghold of the Congress. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi have both contested from the southern states but never from Kerala.

Indira Gandhi contested from Chikmagalur in 1978 Lok Sabha by-election. However, the constituency no longer exists. It was with Udupi Chikamagaluru seat in 2008 due to delimitation. Sonia Gandhi contested from Bellary in 1999 and defeated Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj. Both Chikamagalur and Bellary are in Karnataka.

Speaking to the media in Kottayam, Chennithala said that he has already spoken to Gandhi when he visited Kerala earlier in March. "Today, we have again put forward our request and I have already spoken to the Wayanad district Congress president, who also evinced huge interest," said Chennithala.

Chandy told the media that this is the request from Congress workers and "we wish and want that Gandhi contests from Wayanad".

The Wayanad seat was formed in 2009 and is one of the strongest constituencies for the Congress party. Both in 2009 and 2014 it was won by senior Congress leader MI Shanawaz, but he passed away in 2018 and since then the seat has been lying vacant.