The belated declaration of Congress national president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency brought back cheer on the faces of party activists in Kozhikode district on Sunday.
They held demonstrations, raised slogans hailing their leader, and distributed sweets to express their happiness. The activists took out a march to Mananchira in the city in the evening. Those engaged in campaigning in Kozhikode and Vadakara constituencies too were on cloud nine.
M.K. Raghavan, Congress candidate from Kozhikode, was touring Kunnamangalam Assembly constituency when the news came in.
He claimed that Congress activists in the State now had a historic responsibility to reclaim India’s secular credentials.
K.C. Abu, former district Congress committee president, demanded that the Communist Party of India, which has fielded a candidate from Wayanad, withdraw from the race. “The Left should withdraw their candidate to help the Congress increase its majority,” he said.