THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst the continuing suspense over the prospect of Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad, AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy exuded optimism that Rahul Gandhi will finally bow to the wishes of the state leaders.
Mr Chandy has received assurances in this regard from senior leader A. K. Antony, sources said, though leaders like P.C. Chacko have expressed doubts over the matter and said that Mr Chandy had shown undue haste in announcing it on Saturday last.
However, Mr Chacko is bitter over his failure to get a seat and has not taken kindly to Chandy and CWC member K.C. Venugopal.
While Mr Antony and Venugopal are tight-lipped, Mr Chandy has remained firm in his conviction and said that Rahul will announce his decision on Wednesday.
Mr Antony has been keen to bring Rahul Gandhi to Wayanad to create a wave in the state and beyond.
“Antony wants to give a fitting reply to the CPM which had opposed an alliance with the Congress at the national level. That is why he wants to bring Rahul Gandhi to Kerala,” said a Congress source.
Mr Chandy went public on a clear signal from the Congress high command after which he asked T. Siddique to withdraw from the poll fray. Majority of the Congress leaders do not openly criticise the high command and Mr Chandy has been campaigning against the Left camp.
“Chandy is also the AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh. He shares good rapport with former bureaucrat Koppula Raju, 62, who is the head of the core team of Rahul Gandhi. Raju, a Dalit leader, works with the Congress president’s 12 Tughlaq Lane residence and belongs to the 1981 IAS batch from Andhra Pradesh,” said the source.
Mulappally promises record win for Rahul
KPCC president Mull-apally Ramachandran said that the Congress president Rahul Gandhi will romp home with a record majority if he decides to contest from Wayanad. While talking to reporters at Indira Bhavan on Tuesday, Mullapally said he is familiar with the spirit of Wayanad, as it was earlier a part of the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency.
Mullapally said people have got doubts only about one thing, and that is the victory margin. He said that if Rahul Gandhi wins from both Wayanad and Amethi seats, he will have to choose one and a decision would be taken about it later.
“KPCC leadership has asked unanimously to Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad. But at the same time, booth level leaders have also put forth a similar demand,” said Mullapally
He also added that apart from Kerala, the other two neighbouring states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Congress leaderships too have come out with their proposals to field Rahul Gandhi in their respective states.
“This is not the first time Congress leaders have contested from South India. Rahul Gandhi had expressed happiness with the way the party programmes in Kerala became a huge success. He had evaluated that Congress is putting up a show,” added Mullapally.
He also informed that all the UDF allies had expressed happiness about Rahul Gandhi's candidature in Wayanad. Mullapally maintained that more discussions are on at the national level. He feigned ignorance about CWC leader P. C. Chacko criticizing the move of the KPCC leadership to bring Rahul Gandhi. Mullapally also informed that the there is no confusion prevailing on the candidature of K. Muraleedharan in Vatakara.
