Southern comfort

The Congress’ decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in north-east Kerala, bordering both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, might have ruffled feathers in the ragtag Opposition camp, but it’s in line with the party’s tendency to look southwards whenever the chips are down. Decimated in the 1977 General Election, Indira Gandhi had chosen Karnataka’s Chikmagalur to script a dramatic comeback a year later. In 1999, Sonia Gandhi had defeated BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj from another Karnataka constituency, Bellary. It’s unreasonable on the BJP’s part to accuse Rahul of picking a ‘safe’ seat as he presumably fears a loss from his pocket borough, Amethi. For the record, Narendra Modi had contested from Varanasi as well as Vadodara in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections — even though the saffron surge was all-pervasive at that time.

Kerala is ruled by the Left Democratic Front, whose biggest constituents are the CPM and the CPI. The defiant CPI has ruled out the withdrawal of its candidate against the Congress president, while accusing Rahul of weakening the Opposition’s anti-BJP fight through an ‘avoidable’ contest. The Aam Aadmi Party, too, wants to know why the Gandhi scion preferred Left-controlled Kerala to Karnataka or Tamil Nadu.

With Rahul in the battleground, the party hopes to counter Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s strategy to consolidate the Left’s position by dividing Congress voters over the Sabarimala protests. As the party is on a shaky ground in most northern states, primarily Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the objective of strengthening its electoral base in south India makes sense. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka together account for 87 Lok Sabha constituencies. The Congress is eyeing the lion’s share of these seats in its bid to regain power at the Centre. The failure to reach an understanding with the Left on seat-sharing in West Bengal has also made it easier for the party to take the southern plunge under Rahul’s command. However, placating prospective allies will test the Grand Old Party’s mettle.