"Wayanad Wants To Say Goodbye To Rahul Gandhi": Kerala BJP Candidate

BJP candidate from Wayanad, K Surendran, who is pitted against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has affirmed confidence in coming out victorious and said the people of the constituency want to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai also exuded confidence in Surendran's victory and said that the BJP leader is not here to defeat Rahul Gandhi but to serve the people of the constituency.

Mr Surendran along with Mr Annamalai -- who contested from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu -- held a roadshow in Wayanad on Wednesday. Notably, the campaigning will end today at 6 pm as the polling for the second phase will be held on April 26.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Mr Surendran said, "You can see the energy of people in this election campaign. The people of Wayanad want to say goodbye to Rahul Gandhi and welcome PM Modi. This is the slogan of Wayanad. I expect BJP to win 10 out of 20 seats in Kerala."

The BJP Kerala state president also said that only PM Modi can solve the problem of attacks by wild animals in Wayanad. He added that the issue of human life conflict has also been mentioned in the party's election manifesto.

He further slammed the Congress party over Sam Pitroda's statement regarding inheritance tax and said that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party "work against India".

"Rahul Gandhi goes abroad and speaks against India. He says that there is no democracy in India, but India is called the 'Mother of Democracy'. He says that the election system is not good, there is tampering with EVMs. Rahul Gandhi is an irresponsible person. He is the leader of the Tukde-Tukde Gang and Urban Naxals," he said.

Further during the roadshow, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai asked if Rahul Gandhi could present a white paper about what he has done for his constituency in the last five years.

Speaking to ANI, the Annamalai said, "K Surendran is going to win with a margin India is going to look back. He is not here to defeat Rahul Gandhi, he is here to serve people."

"Can Rahul Gandhi present a white paper to say what he has done for Wayanad in the last five years? He has visited Wayanad less than 10 times and now he has come for only elections," he added.

He said that the people of Wayanad want a "son of the soil" who can stand with the plantation workers and implement central government schemes in the region.

The BJP state chief also slammed the Congress party over Sam Pitroda's statement and asked what is the idea of Rahul Gandhi and his party.

"Rahul Gandhi talks about the redistribution of resources, he wants to do a financial survey and an institutional survey. Sam Pitroda has gone one step further to say that 55 per cent of the wealth will be taken by the government as inheritance tax...This only makes clear what the Congress mindset is," the BJP leader said.

"The shape of the economic model they are preparing is coming out, and Sam Pitroda has let the cat out of the bag...Why should people allow a financial survey to happen in their homes...Can Congress clarify what Rahul Gandhi said? Mangalsutra is an asset in every family and PM Narendra Modi talked about exactly what Rahul Gandhi and Sam Pitroda said," he further said.

A controversy erupted after the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda while emphasising the need for policy toward wealth redistribution spoke about the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America and said that these are issues that will need to be discussed.

Although the Congress party has distanced itself from the remarks and said that inheritance tax laws do not reflect the stand of the party, the BJP came guns blazing at the Congress party.

Meanwhile, all 26 seats of Kerala will go to polls on April 26. The counting is scheduled on June 4.

In 2019, Congress won 19 out of 20 seats in the state, while the CPI (M) could win the lone seat. BJP failed to open its account.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)