Rahul Gandhi (left) and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra address the media after a meeting at party President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered the electoral fray at Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, his sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who accompanied him to file nominations, had then tweeted, "My brother, my truest friend, and by far the most courageous man I know. Take care of him Wayanad, he won't let you down."
Five years down the line, Rahul indeed did not make the people of Wayanad feel let down as Priyanka is entering the fray in his place as desired by the people.
Ever since the chances of Rahul quitting Wayanad owing to political compulsions came up, there has been widespread speculations, rather desire among the people, that Priyanka make her electoral debut from the high-range seat. Priyanka is never an unfamiliar face in Wayanad as she had taken part in road shows for Rahul's campaign in 2019 and 2024.
Congress local sources at Wayanad told DH that Wayanad will give a more colourful victory for Priyanka than what Rahul received in 2019. "Everyone at the grassroots is excited over the decision that Priyanka will be replacing Rahul. Hence a thumping victory is certain," said Hussain Kutty, an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) associate of Wayanad constituency.
The Wayanad parliamentary seat comprises the three Assembly segments of Wayanad, three of adjacent Malappuram district and one of Kozhikode. It is a Muslim dominated seat and Congress's coalition partner IUML has considerable influence. Hence it is considered as a safe seat for Congress.
Wayanad had literally saved the face of Rahul by presenting him a victory with a thumping margin of 4.3 lakh votes in 2019, even when he lost his sitting seat Amethi. This time Rahul's victory margin came down to 3.6 lakh votes as there was widespread criticism over his inadequate presence in the constituency. Moreover, BJP's state president K Surendran, who contested against Rahul this time, secured 1.4 lakh votes while in 2019 NDA candidate BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally could secure only 78,800 votes.
Though CPI fielded senior leader Annie Raja at Wayanad this time, the decision seemed to have not gone down well with the left parties. She could secure only nearly 10,000 votes more that what the party candidate P P Suneer secured in 2019. Hence the chances of Raja contesting again could be remote.
Wayanad has a total of 14,62,423 voters of which 7,41,354 are females, 7,21,054 males and 15 third gender.
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