Pinarayi slams Rahul for running against Left's candidate in Wayanad
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Mathrubhumi photo.
Kozhikode: Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, whose party is also a part of the INDIA bloc, slammed Rahul Gandhi for contesting in Wayanad against Vijayan's party CPI's candidate Annie Raja, reports The News Minute.
On Monday, the Left stalwart criticised Rahul for not actively campaigning against the BJP.
While talking to reporters during an election campaign in Kozhikode, Vijayan said that Rahul Gandhi is contesting against Annie Raja, a well-known national Left leader who was a strong protester on the Manipur issue. She voiced her protests against the BJP and got attacked by being called anti-national. He asked, "But what is Rahul Gandhi's role in this?" quoted TNM.
He mentioned Annie Raja's presence in every protest that happened in the country and slammed Rahul, saying that he was never seen in the fore in Manipur protests.
TNM notes that Vijayan's statement comes only a day after the INDIA alliance demonstrated a protest in Delhi where the CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and Congress leaders shared the stage. The communist party had earlier stated that though they would be part of the INDIA alliance, they would not be involved in its organisational apparatus.
Vijayan said on Monday that Rahul can contest from anywhere he wishes to but the entire country must discuss the inappropriateness of the constituency he chose. "Why is he not contesting against BJP directly?" Vijayan wondered.
In Wayanad, apart from Rahul and Annie Raja, BJP state president K Surendran contests with NDA's ticket.
Rahul had won Wayanad in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a huge margin of 4.31 lakh votes, which is 64.94 per cent vote share. It was the highest margin that year in LS polls in Kerala, defeating LDF candidate PP Suneer and NDA candidate Tushar Vellapally of BDJ(S).