As Left reveals its cards in Kerala, why Congress may still want Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad

With the CPI announcing senior leader Annie Raja as its candidate from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, currently represented by Rahul Gandhi, the question of a constituency for the Congress leader has resurfaced.

While the CPI is a part of the INDIA coalition at the national level, as is its larger partner, they are bitter rivals of the Congress in Kerala. It is understood that the Left Democratic Front led by the CPI(M) will have no truck with the Congress-led United Democratic Front in the state. In fact, the two Left parties, which have already announced their candidates for the Lok Sabha seats, have been vocal in asking the Congress to consider a seat for Rahul in some other state, particularly where the party’s chief rival is the BJP.

In an interview to The Indian Express, Annie Raja said: “What is the gain for the Congress or Rahul Gandhi in contesting from Kerala? … The Congress has many options for a safer seat for its leadership. It can be in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka … so many places.”

While the Congress announced on Wednesday that it will contest 16 seats in Kerala as part of its UDF alliance, it is yet to put out candidate names. The Congress state unit, however, said it wanted Rahul to contest from Wayanad again. In 2019, not only had the constituency helped the Congress leader save face, since he lost from family bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to the BJP’s Smriti Irani, his candidature had also powered the party’s sweep in Kerala.

Rahul had won Wayanad that time with a massive 64.8% of the vote share, against another CPI candidate. In fact, Wayanad has been a safe Congress seat, with the party winning it the last three times by substantial margins – one reason why the party picked it for Rahul.

In the last