Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination from Wayanad, will be accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra!

WAYANAD: Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from the hilly district of Wayanad in north Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination at around 11.30 am today. The Congress chief will be accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when he does the paper work.

Mr Gandhi landed in Kozhikode, 73 km from Wayanad, on Wednesday night to a grand welcome by hundreds of Congress workers. Priyanka Gandhi had reached shortly before her brother.

The Congress chief was received at the airport by former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy and other leaders of the Congress-led alliance in the state. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi spent the night at a guest house in Kozhikode.

He take take a helicopter to fly to Kalpetta in Wayanad where he will file his nomination at the district collectorate.

The Congress president’s decision to contest from a second seat bolstered the BJP’s charge that Rahul Gandhi is “running away” because he is unsure of his prospects in Amethi.

Yesterday, he explained that he was fighting from Wayanad because: “South India feels hostility from Narendra

Modi; I wanted to send message that I am standing with you.”

On Monday, PM Modi had also said in Maharashtra that the Congress was “afraid” because it had insulted Hindus by using the term “Hindu terror” and knew it would be punished by the community. He mainly implied that was the reason why Rahul Gandhi had decided to contest in Wayanad, where “the majority is in a minority”.

Wayanad, a relatively backward region, is home to Kerala’s largest tribal population. 18 per cent of the the district’s vote share is that of tribals.

Wayanad grabbed national headlines after the Congress on Sunday announced that Mr Gandhi would contest from there, besides Amethi. The party said, by choosing Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from a seat that, in a way, represents three southern states. Wayanad shares borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.’

The NDA coalition has fielded Thushar Vellapally of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena to take on the Congress president.

Wayanad will mainly vote on April 23 and Amethi on May 6. And the counting of votes for the country will be held on May 23.