Cong. is irritated when a CPI MP requests that Rahul not be repeated in Wayanad.

The Forecast 2 years ago Congress

A recommendation made during internal debates at INDIA bloc member CPI's recent national executive conference that senior leader Rahul Gandhi not run for re-election from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in 2024 has irritated the Congress, particularly its Kerala branch. CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Sandosh Kumar's reported statements on September 19 that Mr. Gandhi's trip to Wayanad may be seen as a show of weakness, given the country's changing political environment as of 2019, found few takers in the Congress. K.C. Venugopal, general secretary (organisation) of the Congress, denied the notion, stating it is the Central Election Committee's authority to decide on candidacy and "no one else needs to have an opinion on this." State Congress head K. Sudhakaran slammed the notion, saying the Kerala unit wants Mr. Gandhi to run again from Wayanad. Kerala's peculiar political scenario, with INDIA allies Congress and the Left parties engaged in a direct struggle, removes the need for a seat-sharing mechanism in the State.

According to reports, Kumar reasoned that Gandhi was no ordinary candidate and that people looked forward to him as the natural head of the coalition, especially after the 4,000-kilometer-long Bharat Jodo Yatra. Instead of Wayanad, he advised running in one of the Hindi-speaking states and taking on the BJP head-on. The CPI MP declined to comment on his statements before the party's national executive, but told The Hindu, "It is advisable that Gandhi not contest against the Left, which is an integral part of the new movement called INDIA."