Cracks in INDIA bloc: 'Who is Rahul Gandhi fighting in Kerala?' asks Pinarayi Vijayan ahead of Wayanad contest

Kerala Lok Sabha elections: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday criticised Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in the upcoming general elections. While questioning the Gandhi scion on who exactly is he fighting in Kerala, Vijayan claimed that Gandhi is coming to Wayanad to contest against the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The LDF is a constituent of the opposition INDIA alliance in Kerala. "Who is Rahul Gandhi fighting against in Kerala? Can we say he is contesting against K Surendran in Kerala? Can we say he came to Kerala to fight against the BJP? He is coming here to contest against the LDF," Vijayan said. 

Vijayan, however, said that it is the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi's call to contest the upcoming general elections from wherever they want. He said that everyone is questioning Gandhi's decision to come to Kerala. 

"They can decide who will contest from where, but the inappropriateness was discussed by the entire country. Everybody is questioning his decision to come to Kerala but not competing against the BJP directly at the Centre," Vijayan said. 

He added that the main objective of the INDIA alliance was to ensure that the BJP does not get a third straight tenure at the Central level. Vijayan also slammed Gandhi for contesting against CPI leader Annie Raja in Wayanad.

VIjayan attacks Rahul Gandhi for contesting against Annie Raja, questions role in Manipur issue

Livid at Gandhi's decision to seek a re-election from Wayanad, Vijayan went mercurial on the Manipur violence issue to attack the Congress leader. Pinarayi Vijayan said that Annie Raja was labelled as anti-national for calling out the BJP-led state government's wrongdoings.

He also questioned Rahul Gandhi's role vis-a-vis finding out about the cruelty faced by the local Christian population there.

"Rahul Gandhi is coming to Kerala and contesting against Annie Raja. Annie Raja is a national leader of the CPI. She was called anti-national during the Manipur issue for strongly calling out the BJP government's wrongdoing... What was the role of Rahul Gandhi in that? Can he say anything about that?" Vijayan thundered.

Congress party on Manipur issue

Notably, the Congress party has raked up the Manipur ethnic violence time and again to attack the BJP-led state government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh, have sought the response of Prime Minister Modi on the floor of the Parliament on the issue. 

Rahul Gandhi's much-talked about 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' also began from Manipur and then moved to Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and finally culminated in Maharashtra. 

Kerala Lok Sabha polls date

The southern state with 20 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls in a single phase on April 26. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.