No one in Wayanad doubts the winning chances of Rahul Gandhi, but the question that looms large over the Congress-led United Democratic Front is whether he would be able to match the 2019 margin of 4,31,770 votes.

There is no real anti-incumbency against the Congress leader whom the people of Wayanad had embraced the moment he set foot in 2019. There is neither any significant change in the composition of the voters in the UDF pocket borough.

Yet, what worries the Congress and its partners is whether Rahul would manage such a huge margin and help the alliance retain 19 of the 20 seats it had won last time.

The concern over the possibility of a smaller victory margin stems from Rahul’s challenger Annie Raja, the CPI leader who has been able to connect with the masses. Although the BJP has fielded its state president K. Surendran hoping to give Rahul a run for his money, the real challenge is from Annie.

However, a larger worry is the UDF’s decision to eschew party flags at the campaigns, including Rahul’s road shows. It was done to avoid another controversy over the green-and-crescent flag of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) that was in 2019 interpreted as Pakistani colours by the BJP, especially in the Hindi belt.

An ocean of IUML flags had welcomed Rahul when he arrived in 2019 to file his nomination papers. Amit Shah had then taunted the Congress at a rally in Nagpur by saying: “When a procession is taken out there, it is difficult to make out whether it is an Indian or a Pakistani procession.”

To prevent a repeat, the UDF dropped flags of all partners, much to the consternation of party workers such as Mohammed Kunji.

“Hundreds of ordinary workers like me hold our green flag high with pride. But it hurts us that our own leaders decided not to use our flags this time fearing the BJP,” Kunji told The Telegraph in Kalpetta.

Mohammed Ali, a local barber and Gulf returnee, was looking to cast his first vote after returning to India. “But I am pained that our flags are missing from Rahul Gandhi’s campaign. I want our leaders to be brave and face the BJP head-on rather than bowing down to their pressure,” he told this newspaper.

Red-flagging the absence of Congress and IUML flags at Rahul’s campaign, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front is flaunting the green flag of its partner Indian National League (INL).

CPM politburo member Brinda Karat waved the green flag of the INL at one of the election meetings in Wayanad and questioned the Congress about the absence of flags.

“This is the flag of the INL. The INL is a respected member of the LDF. Here we have the pachcha kodi (Malayalam for green flag) of the INL. There we have the chenkodi (red flag) of the CPM and CPI. We will fight over politics. We do not bow down before the BJP-RSS threats,” Karat told the cheering audience.

None of that seemed to bother UDF leaders who repeatedly asked the CPM and others to mind their own business.

“Why is the CPM worried about what we are doing or not doing? It is our call to use or not to use our flags. So leave it to us and worry about your own problems as we are going to sweep all 20 seats this time,” Kerala’s acting Congress president M.M. Hassan told this newspaper in Thiruvananthapuram.

“None of this will affect Rahul Gandhi’s margin. In fact, he will win by a bigger margin this time,” Hassan predicted.

Wayanad district panchayat president and district Youth Congress president Shamshad Marakkar, who is part of Rahul’s campaign team, reminded the critics that IUML leaders were present at all the campaign events.

“Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal (a member of the revered Thangal family of IUML leaders) was present with Rahul Gandhi when he came here. Senior IUML leaders have already defended the decision of not using flags. So I don’t understand why the CPM is so worried,” he told this newspaper in Kalpetta.

When told about the angst at the grassroots level, Marakkar said: “The IUML workers are very well aware of the reason for not using the flags.”

Kerala votes on April 26