Ghaziabad: BJP president Amit Shah, who is contesting his maiden Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, on Sunday accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of running away to Kerala to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years.

Amit Shah was speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, where voting will be held on April 11.

“Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him,” the BJP chief said,” tweeted Amit Shah.

The BJP chief also said, “The Congress had given a clean chit to Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-etaiba in Samjhauta Express bomb blast case, sent Swami Aseemanand and other innocent persons to jail, and had put a tag of terrorism on Hindus.”

Pressure had been building on Rahul Gandhi to contest from south India, apart from Amethi, to boost the morale of the cadre with leaders from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala urging him to select the second seat of his choice in their respective states. Wayanad, a rural district, has been a Congress stronghold.

With this decision, Rahul Gandhi becomes the third member of the Gandhi family to select a second seat from south India.

Prior to him, his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had contested from Chikmagalur in Karnataka in 1978. 

His mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi fought from Bellary in the same state in