The Communist Party of India (CPI) announced on Tuesday that it will field a candidate against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-poll. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam confirmed that the party, which holds the Wayanad seat within the Left Democratic Front (LDF), will have its own candidate in the by-election.
"What is the doubt in it? The CPI and the LDF will not do anything that is favorable to the BJP. So, we will certainly field our candidate there," Viswam stated.
When questioned about Priyanka Gandhi's candidacy, Viswam acknowledged that the Congress has the freedom to choose its candidate for any constituency. He also remarked that if the Congress's intention was to vacate Wayanad, they wouldn't need to bring a prominent leader like Rahul Gandhi to the south.
Previously, senior CPI leader Annie Raja contested against Rahul Gandhi in the recent Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad.
On Monday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced after a leadership meeting in New Delhi that Rahul Gandhi would retain the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and vacate the Wayanad seat for his sister Priyanka Gandhi to contest.
Following his victories in both the Wayanad and Rae Bareli constituencies, Rahul Gandhi was mandated to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results announced on June 4.
