Rahul Gandhi to contest 2nd seat from Kerala

India's main opposition party Congress yesterday announced its President Rahul Gandhi would contest from a second constituency Wayanad in Kerala apart from his traditional bastion of Amethi in the key battleground state of Uttar Pradesh in the coming parliamentary elections.

Senior Congress leader from Kerala A K Antony said "Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala."

Rahul is at present a Lok Sabha member from Amethi from where his father Rajiv Gandhi had also contested.  This is the first time that Rahul, 48, would be contesting from two parliamentary constituencies.

Rahul's decision to contest from Amethi and Waynad drew instant jibe from Bharatiya Janata Party which wondered if he is not sure winning from Amethi where his challenger will be federal Textile Minister and former TV star Smriti Irani. In the last national polls five years ago, Rahul had defeated Smriti but his victory margin came down substantially.  

Surjewala hit back to the BJP's dig at Rahul's decision to be in fray from two seats by saying the same question could have been asked when Narendra Modi had contested from two parliamentary constituencies—one in Modi's home state Gujarat and another in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, in the previous national elections in 2014.