Congress will have to explain why Rahul contesting from Wayanad seat against LDF: CPM

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Sunday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting against Left Democratic Front (LDF) from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency conveys a message which the party will have to explain to the people.

"Coming here and fighting against LDF, what message does this convey that Congress will have to decide. Any party can decide which candidate will contest from which seat but what is the message they want to convey, they will have to explain to the people," Yechury said.

Emphasising that priority is to remove BJP, the CPI(M) leader said: "We are very clear, this election is an important one that will decide whether a secular democracy will survive or not. Removing BJP is our priority."Congress today announced that Rahul will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, to further strengthen the unity of North and South.

In its first list released on March 7, Congress had announced that Rahul will contest from Amethi.

In 2014, Rahul faced a tough fight from Smriti Irani in Amethi. While the Congress president bagged 4,08,651 votes, Irani polled 3,00,748 votes thinning the victory margin to just over 1 lakh.

On March 15, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had offered the Congress president to contest from Karnataka.

Earlier, former Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy had requested Rahul to contest from Wayanad constituency.