Kozhikode: Congress party's 'RaGa in Wayanad' campaign got a new twist on Thursday with former Kerala chief minister and senior leader Oommen Chandy, who was among the first to talk about Rahul Gnadhi's candidature from Kerala, saying that he never conclusively stated that the Congress president will contest from God's own country.
“It was only a request from Congress leaders from Kerala,” Chandy told reporters on Thursday.
Chandy, who is the AICC general secretary, had last Saturday said the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee had requested Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
The party, which is contesting 16 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, announced the names of 14 candidates but has not declared its candidates from Wayanad and Vadakara.
Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala, too, had claimed that he had requested Gandhi to contest from Wayanad when the Congress president visited Kerala recently to launch the party's poll campaign.
“Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad will energise the Congress party in south India and thus the party can win majority of seats from the region,” the leaders had stated.
The Congress had earlier proposed Kozhikode District Congress Committee president T Siddique's name for Wayanad seat. Later Siddique had declared that he also wanted Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad.
With no confirmation on Wayanad candidate, the Congress workers are a confused lot now. The LDF campaigning is all set to enter the second phase while the Cognress workers are still awaiting for a final word on the candidate. Meanwhile, posters seeking votes for T Siddique have appeared in various parts of the constituency.
Congress state units in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have also demanded that the party president should contest the Lok Sabha elections from their respective states.
Earlier this month the Congress had announced that Rahul will contest from his bastion Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli.
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