Wayanad Lok Sabha Bypolls: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to file her nomination for the upcoming Wayanad Lok Sabha bypolls on Wednesday, October 23. She will be accompanied by Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Vadra will file her nomination papers after a roadshow with Rahul Gandhi to the Wayanad Collectorate.
Soon after the Election Commission announced the Wayanad bypoll, the Congress declared that Priyanka Gandhi would be its candidate from the seat in Kerala.
Days after the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Congress had announced in June itself that Rahul Gandhi will retain the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, previously held by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and vacate the Wayanad seat in Kerala, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi is set for her electoral debut.
If she bags the seat, this will be the first time that Priyanka Gandhi will enter the Lower House. This will also be the first time that the three Gandhi family members—Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka—will be in Parliament together.
Meanwhile, senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri will be the LDF candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll. The decision was announced on Thursday by CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam.
On Saturday, Mokeri launched his election campaign and took a pot shot at Priyanka Gandhi, questioning whether she would be present in the constituency on winning from here.
Senior CPI leader Mokeri had contested the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in 2014, significantly reducing the then Congress candidate M. I. Shanavas’s winning margin to around 20,000 votes. Amidst his poll campaign in Wayanad, Mokeri questioned what surety was there that Priyanka would remain in the hill district after her win.
“Look at the stand taken by Rahul Gandhi. He won and then left. How many days was he here? Those who come to contest like this and then leave cannot address the developmental and other problems faced by the people of the constituency,” he said.
Mokeri also said that there is no answer from the Congress-led UDF as to why they are contesting elections here where democratic and left forces are strong and the fascist groups are weak.
(With agencies inputs)