Why Congress prefers Wayanad for Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha polls?
Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad. Kerala's ruling party, CPI, had earlier announced senior leader Annie Raja as its candidate from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. Even though Communist Party of India (CPI) is a Congress ally in the Opposition INDIA bloc at the national level, the parties are rivals of the Congress in Kerala.
However, with speculations that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to make her poll debut with the Raebareli seat, which was vacated by her mother Sonia Gandhi after she moved to the Rajya Sabha, questions around Rahul Gandhi's candidacy has resurfaced. Congress had earlier announced that it will contest 16 seats in the state of Kerala as part of its UDF alliance, however, the grand old party is yet to put out candidate names. Kerala Congress unit had stated that it preferred the Wayanad seat for Rahul Gandhi to contest from again.
Rahul's previous victory in Wayanad during the 2019 elections, securing a significant 64.8% of the vote share against a CPI candidate, played a crucial role in the Congress leader's political narrative, after he lost the Congress bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani. The Wayanad constituency has historically been a stronghold for the Congress, with the party winning it in the last three Lok Sabha elections by substantial margins. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the Congress maintained dominance in the seven segments constituting the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, despite the LDF's overall victory in Kerala.
The Congress secured a combined vote share of 34.5%, surpassing the CPI(M)'s 25.6%. The significance of Wayanad as a Congress stronghold is evident in past elections, with late Congress leader M I Shanavas winning the seat in 2014 and 2009. The
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