NEW DELHI: As the Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja said that fielding its former vice president from the seat in the southern state was a short-sighted decision of the party.
The Left party veteran further said that if Gandhi is against the policies and ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he should have taken on them directly in other states.
“This is before the People of Wayanad… Kerala can’t be taken for granted. There are certain questions raised in public why Mr Rahul Gandhi has chosen to contest from the Wayanad? Or why the Congress has decided to field him against the Left. Mr Rahul Gandhi has held two Yatras-- Bharat Jodo Yatra Jodo and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra- where his focus was to attack and criticize the policies and ideology of BJP-RSS. But when it comes to electoral battle, he doesn’t chosen to fight against the BJP. He chose to fight against the Left. Questions are being raised about what message the Congress wants to send,” said D Raja, who is general secretary of the CPI.
The CPI’s women wing leader Annie Raja is Left Democratic Front (LDF)'s candidate from the seat. The BJP has fielded Kerala unit president K Surendran to contest from the seat.
Voting for all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state will take place on April 26, as part of the second phase of the parliamentary elections.
“The Congress party should think in terms of a larger perspective of the country’s future. I reiterate that it is shorts-sighted decision on the part of the Congress by fielding Rahul from Wayanad. If he wanted to contest from a seat in South, there are many constituencies and places from where he could have chosen to contest in states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana or Andhra Pradesh,” D Raja added.
He further stated that the Congress should take note of why people are raising questions.
“The main battle in Kerala is between (United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF). It is up to Congress to think over what message it wants to convey to the whole country; We are talking in terms of saving the constitution, democracy, secularism and federalism. In the struggle for India and its future, the left is a committed force. Why should Rahul Gandhi fight against the Left,” the CPI leader said.
