Rahul Gandhi should explain whether he wants to fight BJP or Left: Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has urged Rahul Gandhi to explain whether he is keen on fighting the BJP or the Left as he feels that the Congress chief's decision to contest from Left stronghold-Wayanad has sent out a different message.

Hinting that Gandhi's decision won't prevent the two parties from coming together after election, he spoke about 2004 when the CPI(M)-led Left Front had extended outside support to the Congress-led UPA. He said out of the 61 Left MPs, 57 had won by defeating the Congress.

"In all the 20 seats of Kerala, the contest is between the Congress-led UDF and Left-led LDF, whether its Rahul Gandhi or XYZ candidate. We are saying today that defeating the BJP is necessary to save India today," Yechury told PTI in an interview.

"Now what does Rahul Gandhi want to do is up to him. What is the message he is giving by contesting against the Left in Kerala unlike his mother or grandmother who had contested against the BJP from Karnataka. He should tell the country whether he is keen on fighting BJP or the Left. He should clarify this," he said.

Indira Gandhi had contested from Chikmagalur in October 1978 and Sonia Gandhi from Bellary in 1999 in Karnataka.

Fighting against the BJP is one thing, fighting against the Left sends out a different message, he said.

Yechury said if Gandhi was keen on sending a message of united India by contesting from a southern state he could have contested from Tamil Nadu or Karnataka.

He was commenting on Gandhi's recent speech where he had said that the reason behind contesting from Kerala was to give a message that "India is not just one idea but millions of different viewpoints".

Asked whether Gandhi contesting from Kerala would act as a roadblock for the CPI(M) in supporting the Congress in a post-poll scenario, Yechury said, "Roadblock for what? If Rahul Gandhi is not there then there will be some other Congress candidate."