Rahul Gandhi is on a three-day visit to his constituency Wayanad in Kerala
Highlights
- Rahul Gandhi is on 3-day Wayanad trip to thank people of the constituency
- "Committed to defending space of opposition, defending weak": Mr Gandhi
- Rahul Gandhi lost his traditional Amethi seat in UP to BJP's Smriti Irani
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on his first trip after the national election to Kerala's Wayanad - the constituency that voted him to Parliament - today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying the PM and his government are spreading hatred in the country. Rahul Gandhi said the Congress is committed to defending people who are "under attack by PM Modi's policies and the PM himself".
"We're committed to defending space of opposition, defending weak people in this country, defending people who are under attack by Mr Modi's policies and Mr Modi himself," news agency ANI quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying in Nilambur in Mallapuram district.
Rahul Gandhi's Congress was decimated by the BJP in the national elections. The Congress could only manage to improve its lowest-ever tally of 44 seats in the 2014 elections by eight to get to 52 seats this year. Rahul Gandhi too lost his traditional Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh to the BJP's Smriti Irani. But Mr Gandhi managed to win from Wayanad by a huge margin, of over 4.31 lakh votes, beating his nearest rival from the Left. He contested from a second constituency for the first time in the seven-phase national election.
Rahul Gandhi's three-day Kerala trip, that began this evening, is to thank the people of the Wayanad constituency. Even though the Congress drew a blank in 18 states, the party-led United Democratic Front won 19 of Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha seats.
"I look forward to representing you and working with you to build a better Wayanad," the Congress chief said.
Today, as Rahul Gandhi's roadshow travelled through the Mallapuram, hundreds of workers walked along, braving the pre-monsoon showers, holding banners that read "We are with you, Rahul" and "IYC (Indian Youth Congress) need you to lead us."
Rahul Gandhi, after the Congress was decimated in the national polls, had told his party that he will not continue as party president.