Column: Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad move can bridge India’s north-south divide, says Tharoor

A column by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor argued that Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, alongside Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, strengthens his credentials as a national leader rather than weakening them.

The column’s argument

Tharoor noted that rivals had criticised the move, claiming that Rahul was running away from Amethi or undermining opposition unity by taking on the Left in Kerala. He rejected both charges.

The column argued that relations between the southern states and the Centre had worsened under the BJP-led NDA government. It pointed to cultural issues, such as the alleged push for Hindi and attempts to ban meat, and to the May 2018 decision to have the Fifteenth Finance Commission use 2011 population figures instead of 1971 figures to share revenue. Tharoor wrote that this would cut the southern states’ share and clashed with a 2001 constitutional amendment under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that froze the allocation of Lok Sabha seats so that states controlling population would not be penalised.

Against this backdrop, he argued, Rahul was presenting himself as a bridge across a widening north-south divide and showing confidence that he could win in both regions. The column challenged Narendra Modi to contest a seat in Kerala.

Precedents cited

• Indira Gandhi contested from Chikmagalur in Karnataka in 1978, and added Medak in 1980.
• Sonia Gandhi launched campaigns in both Amethi and Bellary in 1999.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee contested Lucknow, Mathura and Balrampur in 1957 and won only Balrampur; L.K. Advani won both New Delhi and Gandhinagar in 1991; Narendra Modi won both Vadodara and Varanasi in 2014.

Tharoor also claimed that Rahul’s main Amethi rival had not won a high-profile election in her 16 years in politics.

The Left question

On the charge of fighting the Left, the column said the Left and the Congress had long been bitter rivals in Kerala, yet the Left supported the UPA after the 2004 election. It argued that pre-poll contests need not prevent post-poll cooperation, since the Left has fewer differences with the Congress than with the BJP. The column concluded that the results from Amethi and Wayanad on 23 May would vindicate the decision.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, counted on 23 May 2019, the BJP won 303 seats and the Congress 52.

Originally published on 5 April 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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