By Sushil Kutty
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from the minority-dominated Wayanad parliamentary constituency of Kerala, angering INDIA Block allies, CPI in particular, which has its own candidate contesting from the constituency. Wayanad constituency actually has a sizable Muslim electorate and a section of the Muslim-centric Malappuram district is also part of the constituency. The Congress has been claiming that Muslims are fiercely pro-Congress, adamant that the Constitution had been under constant attack under the Modi regime and it was upon the Congress and the INDIA Block to save democracy.
But in Kerala, INDIA Block is kind of divided and, come to think of it, the Wayanad constituency has the onerous task of ensuring that the Nehru- Gandhi family continues to have uninterrupted representation in the Lok Sabha, an unbroken string of success since Independence. If Rahul Gandhi loses, there would be no Gandhi family member in the 18th Lok Sabha unless Priyanka Vadra Gandhi also stands for election and wins. The rub is, Amethi has put the scare in both Rahul and Priyanka, just like the Raebarelli constituency had in Sonia Gandhi.
Also, BJP’s Hindutva push, especially the consecration of the Ram Mandir, has made it dicey for the Congress, especially in constituencies up north. Besides, Rahul Gandhi is increasingly being linked to the Muslim vote bank. The Congress will seek to get maximum electoral advantage of that. Indian Union Muslim League is a longtime ally of the Congress in the Congress led UDF. So the Congress campaign focus will be to get maximum minority votes in this constituency to ensure Rahul’s victory
Thursday morning, Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh quit the party, stating that it was beyond him to “shout slogans against Sanatana Dharma” and keep “abusing wealth creators from morning to evening”. Vallabh said this aloud but there are plenty of Congress leaders who believe Rahul Gandhi’s tilt towards Muslims and the Congress refusal to take part in the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha was unacceptable to them.. A good number of these Sanatan Dharma worshippers are in the Congress Party in Kerala. If they switch their votes to the BJP, that will favour the CPI candidate Annie Raja.
Rahul Gandhi is convinced the Muslim votebank will see him and the Congress through scores of constituencies in Kerala. For instance, nowhere else, not even in Amethi, are Muslims so cued in to guarantee a Rahul Gandhi victory than in Muslim dominated Wayanad. For the Wayanad Muslim electing Rahul Gandhi is an article of faith. On April 3, Rahul Gandhi went on a roadshow and filed his nomination papers. Rahul’s roadshow was devoid of flags. But the SDPI flags were there.
The ensuing controversy put Rahul Gandhi in the lap of SDPI/PFI, which the Congress defended, saying the SDPI had made “an offer”. Both the IUML and the SDPI hold sway in the Wayanad constituency. And Rahul calls Wayanad’s people “my family”. Rahul’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who accompanied Rahul Gandhi for the nomination filing, is no less cued to Muslim sentiments. In 2019, Rahul’s roadshow sported IUML’s green flags alongside the well-recognized Congress flags. This time there were placards with Rahul’s photograph and his signature on them.
In 2019, the BJP objected to the “Muslim flags”, this time it was the turn of the LDF to point fingers. Rahul Gandhi’s main opponent this time is the CPI’s Annie Raja, who too filed her nomination papers on Wednesday and straightway lambasted Rahul Gandhi. Rahul could have contested from any other constituency, why insist on Wayanad? The CPI’s Annie Raja is a well-known national leader of women’s movement but Rahul certainly is fighting with special advantages despite the CPI’s good work in the state. The LDF government of Kerala led by the CPI(M) is running the state for the second consecutive term. In the recent local elections, the Left did well but as regards Wayanad, it is Lok Sabha election and for the Congress supporters, the candidate is Rahul Gandhi.
Having the Gandhi Family’s sole representation in the Lok Sabha from Wayanad is a unique distinction, which a large number of Kerala voters, especially the Muslims covet. While there were rumours that Rahul Gandhi would return to Amethi, the rumours chickened out on their own. In 2019, Rahul won Wayanad with a record margin of 4.13 lakh votes.
“When I came to Wayanad five years ago, I was new here, but you elected me as your MP and soon you made me a member of your family. I have received love and affection. I have learnt so much from my brothers and sisters,” he said. “It has been an honour for me to be the MP of Wayanad… I think about you the same way I think about my sister Priyanka. In the homes of Wayanad, I have sisters, I have brothers, I have mothers and I have fathers. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The ruling LDF isn’t moved by such sentimental mush. Wayanad had voted Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha in 2019 with a record margin of 4.13 lakh votes. The CPI(M) has called Rahul Gandhi “a visiting professor” and the “flagless Congress” facing a tragedy, “abandoning its flag and clubbing together the flag of SDPI”. The LDF will give Rahul Gandhi a tough contest, but with the Muslim votes deciding the margin of victory, Rahul Gandhi will continue to be the Raja of Wayanad with the backing of his Muslim vote bank Even the SDPI thinks Rahul Gandhi should get their vote.
What should not be missed is, there is no Left leader who matches Rahul Gandhi’s profile on the national stage and Rahul is the only leader with the status to rival that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi though jailed AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is doing his best to replace Rahul Gandhi in the stellar role of INDIA Block’s ‘PM Face’. Otherwise, why would he take a copy of journalist Neerja Chowdhury’s “How Prime Ministers decide…” to the Tihar? (IPA Service)
