Congress leaders do not want Rahul Gandhi to contest in Kerala, only Sonia is likely to contest in South India

NEW DELHI: The opinion that Rahul Gandhi should not contest from the sitting seat of Wayanad in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is getting stronger within the Congress as well as the INDIA front. The central leadership will take the final decision regarding Rahul's constituency. However, there is a strong opinion that if Rahul contests against the CPI, a constituent party of the INDIA front, in Wayanad, it will send a wrong message.

This opinion is generally gaining strength in the Congress's national and state leadership. The opinion within the front is that Rahul should go to the Lok Sabha by directly defeating the BJP. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam clarified this the other day. The general opinion is that Rahul should contest from North India and not from South India.

The leaders say that if Rahul is contesting from South India, it should be from Karnataka, where the BJP is strong. Karnataka is the state of Congress's national president Mallikarjun Kharge. He is likely to seek the mandate from here. In that case, there is a strong feeling that one more national leader should not contest in Karnataka. If anyone from the Gandhi family contests in South India, it is likely to be Sonia Gandhi. Congress sources say that Sonia might contest from Telangana.