Cong should decide whether Rahul will fight BJP or LDF in polls: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Tuesday said the Congress will have to decide whether it was fighting the BJP or the LDF while fielding Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

He said that both Congress and the LDF were part of the opposition INDIA bloc that was formed to take on the BJP in next year's general election.

If there is no need for the alliance then there will be a contest between the Congress and the LDF in Kerala, Vijayan said and made it very clear that the LDF would be fielding its candidate in Wayanad.

 

"The Congress has to decide whether Gandhi should fight against the BJP or the LDF in Kerala. Can you say here in Kerala that you are fighting or competing against the BJP?" he said at a press conference here.

Vijayan also said the INDIA alliance will not decide where the member parties would field their candidates. His remarks came a day after the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala criticised Rahul Gandhi's reported move to contest from Wayanad.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan had said that the Congress MP from Wayanad should focus on combating the "fascist policies" of the BJP rather than involving himself in intra-state political rivalries.

The Gandhi scion should contest from a place where the BJP has an influence, he said and added that the saffron party is not an important force in Kerala.

During his recent visit to Kerala, Gandhi had said the state and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency felt like home to him, hinting at a potential preference to contest from the hill constituency in the upcoming polls next year.

With less than six months remaining before the scheduled Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi also said that coming to Kerala and Wayanad did not feel like work.

"I consider it like coming back to my family and meeting my friends. The more I come to Kerala and Wayanad, the more I feel that it is my home," he had said.