Wayanad Lok Sabha election 2024: Will Rahul Gandhi prevail in three-way fight with Left's Annie Raja, BJP's K Surendran

Voters and political pundits have a keen eye on Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, the idyllic land of paddy fields located in the Western Ghats. All the 20 seats in Kerala will go to polls in a single phase on April 26. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is not only eyeing his second victory from Wayanad but will also take the big decision of contesting from the Gandhi family pocket borough Amethi in Uttar Pradesh after voting is complete in the constituency on April 26.

This time around, however, the Wayanad contest is unlikely to be a cakewalk for Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has fielded its state president K Surendran whereas the ruling Left has fielded Annie Raja against the Gandhi scion. 

Rahul Gandhi's poll promises 

In order to bolster Congress' political fortunes, Rahul Gandhi has made many promises in these elections. These promises include legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops to farmers, social security for gig workers, Rs 5,000 crore fund for startups, filling upto 30 lakh vacancies in government jobs, laws to curb government recruitment exam paper leaks.

Besides this, the Congress scion has also promised to directly deposit Rs 1 lakh annually into the bank accounts of poor women under the Mahalaxmi Guarantee scheme. He has also promised Aadhi Aabadi Pura Hakk, i.e., 50 per cent reservation for women in all new recruitments for Central government jobs. 

PM Modi, K Surendran remind RaGa of Amethi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took a jibe at Gandhi and said that he will run away from Wayanad too the same way he had to run away from Amethi. "Congress' shehzada (prince) is facing a crisis in Wayanad. Prince and his aides are waiting for polling on April 26. You can assume that he will leave Wayanad as he ran away from Amethi," the Prime Minister said at a rally. 

Last month, Kerala BJP president K Surendran said Rahul Gandhi will face the same fate as Amethi in Wayanad this time around. In 2019, Gandhi lost the Congress stronghold Amethi against BJP's Smriti Irani. 

Talking to the media, Surendran said, "Wayanad is a constituency where there is a development crisis. Rahul Gandhi has done nothing for the constituency. He will meet the same fate in Wayanad as he encountered in Amethi last time."

Wayanad-- Rahul Gandhi's refuge after losing Amethi in 2019

In 2019, Gandhi went to Wayanad after he lost Amethi to Union minister Smriti Irani by more than 55,000 votes. The decision to move to Wayanad at the time proved to be beneficial as the Congress leader won the seat by more than 7 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 64.7 per cent. 

The reason for Gandhi's move to Wayanad lies beyond losing Amethi to the fiery Smriti Irani. The seat has been a Congress stronghold since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In 2009, Congress leader M.I. Shanavas won from the constituency.

He secured more than 4.10 lakh votes and a vote share of 49.8 per cent. Shanavas won from Wayanad for the second time in the 2014 general elections. In the 2014 polls, M.I. Shanavas secured more than 3.77 lakh votes and a vote share of 41.2 per cent. 

INDIA bloc members question Rahul Gandhi

Not only this, INDIA alliance member and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan also questioned Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad for the second time. Vijayan questioned who and what exactly is Rahul Gandhi fighting against. "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," he said. 

CPI candidate from the constituency Annie Raja also questioned Gandhi over his candidature from the same constituency. She said people of Wayanad are very disappointed with Gandhi's performance. Annie Raja added people told her that the Congress MP did not come and stand by them even during the most difficult times. 

"What people are telling me? They are asking me very angrily will you be like him? Like him (Rahul Gandhi)? I said what happened? No, we voted for him (Rahul Gandhi) and the propaganda was he would be the Prime Minister. He could not become the PM but at least he could have taken the name of this constituency which has only 4 letters in Malayalam, 'Wayanad'," she said.