With Lok Sabha elections less than a month away, the clamour demanding Rahul Gandhi to contest from Karnataka has started getting louder. However, it is believed that the Congress chief is unlikely to leave his bastion Amethi.
In a letter to Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundo Rao invited the former to contest the upcoming general elections from Karnataka.
“The Karnataka Congress Committee takes pride to invite you to kindly contest from Karnataka in the coming Lok Sabha election. Our state has stood by the Congress party whenever we were in troubled times. The present scenario in India is that out party will emerge stronger in the ensuing elections,” the letter read.
The letter comes amid reports about pressure within the Congress for Rahul Gandhi to contest from one of the seats in south India.
Earlier, Rao had reiterated the demand through a tweet which said: “On behalf of @INCKarnataka I urge @RahulGandhi to consider contesting from Karnataka for the forthcoming #LokSabhaElection2019. He should also be our representative from South India & for that he should choose my state.#RaGaFromKarnataka (sic).”
Monday’s letter further emphasised over the fact that the state has in the past sent both his grandmother and mother to the Parliament.
Karnataka by winning the Lok Sabha bypolls in 1978, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi had contested and won from Ballari in 1999, trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Sushma Swaraj.
Interestingly, the Congress has ceded the Chikkamagaluru seat to its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) this time, while Ballari remains with the grand old party.
Last week, former chief minister Siddaramaiah had also said that the Karnataka Congress wants Rahul to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls from the southern state.
Calling Gandhi the "next Prime Minister of India", the Congress Legislature Party leader recalled his grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka in the past.
"Karnataka has always supported & encouraged @INCIndia leaders. It has been proved in case of Smt. Indira ji & Smt. Sonia ji.
We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri. @RahulGandhi to contest from Karnataka & herald new developmental paradigm.
#RaGaFromKarnataka," Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.