SUSPENSE over second seat for Rahul Gandhi: Kerala Congress proposes Wayanad seat amid tough Amethi contest with Smriti Irani in Lok Sabha elections 2019

Anticipating a neck to neck to contest against BJP's Smriti Irani in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Amethi - a bastion of the Gandhis - the Congress is mulling to make its party president Rahul Gandhi also contest from Wayanad in Kerala.

Sources have told Republic TV that the grand old party's Kerala unit is considering the idea of Gandhi scion fighting from the constituency, which has been vacant since the passing away of MI Shanavas, who had won from the seat in 2014.

Rahul Gandhi, a three-time MP from Amethi, had just sneaked past now Union Minister Smriti Irani, winning the constituency by just over a lakh votes. 

The BJP leader has gone all-out in terms of her own contributions in Amethi over the last five years, holding a series of rallies, with PM Narendra Modi doing the same just weeks earlier at the inauguration of an ordnance manufacturing unit.

All India Congress Committee General secretary Oommen Chandy has informed the AICC of the state unit's desire, but the party chief is yet to respond to it, sources have added.

"We have requested Gandhi to contest from Wayanad seat. He has not commented on the request so far. But we expect that there would be a positive response," Chandy said.

Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad will energise the Congress party in South India and thus the party can win majority of seats from the region, KPCC leaders said. The Congress had earlier proposed T Siddique, the Kozhikode DCC president, for the Wayanad seat but he has backed out. 

Siddique said he also wants Gandhi to contest from the Wayanad seat. The election convention of the party-led UDF for Wayanad constituency will unanimously urge Gandhi to contest from the seat, he added. 

The Congress state units in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have also demanded that the party president contest the Lok Sabha elections from the respective states. The Congress earlier this month had announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from his bastion Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli. 

READ: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: "Kindly Contest From Karnataka": Congress Unit Writes A Letter To Rahul Gandhi

(With PTI inputs)