THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Congress president Mullappally Ramachandran has said Rahul Gandhi will win the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with record majority if he chooses to contest from that seat. Mullappally was addressing media persons here on Tuesday.
The senior Congress leader said the state Congress has unanimously called upon for the candidature of Rahul Gandhi and added the AICC president will decide on the same. He said if Rahul contests from Wayanad, the effect will be positively felt in all the South Indian states. The state Congress president however added Rahul is getting invitations to contest the elections from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Mullappally said Congress workers from booth level have requested and desired for Rahul to contest from Wayanad and added that Congress presidents had earlier also contested from the South in addition to North Indian seats.
He said the suggestion of Rahul contesting from Wayanad was discussed in the party and also with the coalition partners of the party, including the IUML, Kerala Congress (Mani), RSP, CMP, Forward Block and the Kerala Congress (Jacob).
Mullappally said there was no apprehension regarding the candidature of Rahul and added the AICC president was yet to take a decision on the same. He also said the Congress candidate of Wayanad will be announced soon and the candidate is already in the campaign mode.
It is also learnt the AICC has already directed the Wayanad DCC to wait for the decision of Rahul’s candidature. Mullappally also said the announcement of the Congress president providing `6,000 a month to the downtrodden in the country if the UPA comes back to the power is a revolutionary statement and added this would be a game changer. When asked about the criticisms levelled by the state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on the scheme, Mullappally said, “There are better economists including Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram, Raghuram Rajan and Thomas Pickeet who were involved in the confabulations on this programme.”
Mullappaly also lashed out at the CPM when asked whether Rahul contesting from Wayanad would lead to the CPM getting antagonised in the post-electoral scenario and said, “The CPM is a non-entity in Indian politics without any relevance. They won two seats from West Bengal in the last Lok Sabha elections with a very minuscule majority and was not given a single seat in Bihar in the Mahagatbandan. In Maharashtra, too, they were kept at an arm’s length and not given a single seat. It is only in Tamil Nadu they got into the coalition including the Congress.”
Central leadership to announce final decision today: Ramesh Chennithala
PATHNAMTHITTA: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has said the decision on AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad will be taken on Wednesday. He told reporters here on Tuesday the party central leadership would announce a final decision on Rahul’s candidature from Wayanad. The state party leadership and partymen unanimously sought the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in the larger interests of boosting the party’s image not only in the state but also in the south, Chennithala said. “If Rahul Gandhi contests in Wayanad, Congress will sweep the election in the state by winning all the 20 seats,” said Chennithala. He said the CPM is afraid of Rahul Gandhi contesting from the state.
The statements of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Rahul Gandhi’s candidature were clear examples of the possible setback in the coming poll, Chennithala said. The murder politics of the party and its impact on people will have a bearing on election results, he said. The UDF stance on the Sabarimala issue and the fight for the protection of ongoing customs and practices will have an impact in the election, he said. People were aware of the cases initiated by the state government against UDF leaders in connection with the violation of prohibitory order at Sabarimala, he said.