Hyderabad: Congress top brass have decided to field former party chief Rahul Gandhi from Telangana, where the party has recently romped to power for the first time ever since the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh a decade ago.
ETV Bharat has learnt from top congress sources that the decision to this effect has been arrived at with the aim of winning maximum number of seats from the southern state. Congress managers believe that the party's prospects would see an uptick in the state like when Rahul's candidature helped party combine sweep Kerala in 2019.
Revanth's Telangana Push
Recent appeals from Chief Minister and party's state unit chief Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramamarka and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy to Sonia Gandhi to take poll plunge from Telangana were not heeded to, as she had stuck to the decision of moving to Rajya Sabha and to stay away from contesting in elections. Party sources said the septuagenarian's choice was linked to her health and that she believed that she would not be able to do justice to the constituency if she were to be elected directly by the people.
Gets Congress Top Brass Nod
Sonia's decision has prompted the entire Congress unit urging Rahul Gandhi to choose their state. It is learnt Revanth has taken this up with party president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary KC Venugopal and other seniors. Revanth's rationale is that Rahul would win without having to campaign, while focusing his energy for campaigning in other constituencies.
In principle, Rahul too is said to have agreed to the demand from the Telangana Congress for his Telangana candidature. Revanth has suggested two seats - Khammam or Bhuvanagiri - from which Rahul will have to pick one. Another source familiar with the development said the party leaders were also pressing for Malkajgiri in Hyderabad for Rahul Gandhi.
Apart from Telangana, Rahul will also contest a second seat from Uttar Pradesh and it will be Amethi, which he lost to Smrithi Irani in 2019 by a margin of over 55,000 votes. Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi is likely to enter the poll arena from Rae Bareli, which was held by her mother Sonia.
Rahul's Wayanad Fight
In 2019, Rahul won the Wayanad seat by a margin of over 4 lakh votes, scripting a state record for a large margin in Kerala. Rahul's historic win placed his nearest rival from the CPI( Communist Party of India), PP Suneer second. The latter polled nearly 2.75 lakh votes. Rahul's candidature in Wayanad impacted the Congress alliance to a record tally of 19 out of 20 seats in Kerala.
On Monday, the CPI, on Monday, announced Annie Raja, wife of D Raja, as its candidate for the Wayanad seat, now being held by Rahul. The party announced its candidates in Kerala for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, in four of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
The Indian Union Muslim League of Kerala, which is a partner in INDIA alliance, is also expected to contest from Wayanad, which has a sizable Muslim population. Multiple reports coming from the national capital suggest that Rahul is unlikely to contest from Wayanad again.
