Rahul Gandhi hints at relinquishing Wayanad, BJP hits out at 'cheating'

Wayanad (Kerala): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in Kerala on Wednesday, admitted that he was in a dilemma as to which Lok Sabha constituency he should relinquish -- Wayanad or Rae Bareli - but then in Wayanad, dropped enough hints that he will be dropping the Kerala seat.

State BJP chief K. Surendran, who had contested against Gandhi and finished a distant third, termed Gandhi's indication "cheating". Meanwhile, advertisement boards have come up in Wayanad which welcome Gandhi's sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi to contest the by-election.

Gandhi, who arrived at the Kozhikode airport in the morning, drove to Edavana in the Malappuram district which is part of his constituency. He was given a rousing welcome and in his first public meeting, he said he was in a dilemma about Wayanad and Rae Bareli. "Unfortunately like Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, I am not guided by god, as I am a human being...God takes all decisions. But I don’t have that luxury as I am an ordinary human being. My god is the poor people of India. My god is the people of Wayanad... What I will commit to the people of Wayanad and Raebareli... whatever decision taken ... all of you will be happy,” said Gandhi.

Addressing another meeting at Kalpetta in Wayanad, Gandhi said his relationship with Wayanad will be forever and it will be beyond elections or votes.

"Speculations have started whether it’s Wayanad or Rae Bareli. Everybody knows the answer except me. In politics, all know except the person who has to make the decision. Don’t worry, the people at Rae Bareli and Wayanad will be happy with the decision, I will be making," he said.

He said he is well aware of the issues in Wayanad. "There are issues of man-animal conflict, night travel, and health sector. The Congress and I are well aware of all these and I assure you all issues of Wayanad will be addressed," he added.

State Congress President and Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran spilled the beans by saying he was both happy and sad at the turn of events. "The victory of the Congress and Rahul’s wins makes me happy, but his leaving Wayanad makes me sad," Sudhakaran said.

Meanwhile, Surendran said that Gandhi's decision to vacate Wayanad was cheating the people of the constituency. "We had told the voters that he would ditch Wayanad. Earlier he said Wayanad's people are his family, but now he says it’s Rae Bareli's people who are his family... before it was Amethi. He did not even have the courtesy to tell the voters of Wayanad before the elections that he would vacate it. Now that a by-election is thrust on the voters of Wayanad, they will give the Congress an apt reply," he said.

Gandhi retained his Wayanad seat easily but with a reduced margin of 3.64 lakh votes, against 4.37 lakh in 2019.