Rahul Gandhi to quit Wayanad? CPI fields Annie Raja on Congress scion’s Lok Sabha seat

The Communist Party of India (CPI), a partner of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala, on Monday announced Annie Raja as its candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, currently held by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Though the CPI is a member of the Opposition INDIA bloc with the Congress, which had won the Wayanad seat with a record margin of 4.3 lakh votes in the 2019 elections, the Left party has publicly asked Rahul to contest the upcoming polls from another seat.

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Meanwhile, claiming that the Congress is fighting against Left in Kerala, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said, “CPI has declared its candidate for the seat in Wayanad, Comrade Annie Raja, who has played a key role in ‘Mahila Andholan’. Now she will be the candidate from the side of the whole LDF. Rahul Gandhi and Congress need to think, they say that their fight is against the BJP. In Kerala, if you come and fight against the Left, what message are you giving? So they need to think about their seat once again.”

The CPI is contesting four out of the total 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam announced the party candidates for the four seats on Monday after the party’s state executive meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Express reported.

In Thiruvananthapuram, which has been represented by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor since 2009, the CPI has fielded senior party leader Pannyian Raveendran. In Thrissur, where BJP’s celebrity face Suresh Gopi is likely to contest, the CPI has nominated former state minister V S Sunil Kumar. The CPI has named C A Arun Kumar as its candidate from the Mavelikkara seat.

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Annie, who also serves as a member of the national executive of CPI, is the wife of CPI general secretary D Raja and one of the prominent party leaders in Delhi.

While there was no seat-sharing pact expected in Kerala between the Congress and the CPI(M) and the CPI, which are the constituents of the INDIA bloc, the decision to field Annie from Wayanad may put the Congress on the back foot.