Priyanka Gandhi will not be with people of Wayanad, says LDF candidate

Wayanad, Kerala: Ruling LDF candidate in Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll Sathyan Mokeri on Wednesday criticised his UDF counterpart Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for leaving the constituency soon after filing nominations and said she would not be with the people of the hill segment if she wins from here.

Like her brother Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka would also come here and go as a guest, and she wouldn't be present in the constituency, he alleged.

The Left candidate came out with the criticism a day after Priyanka wrapped up her first round of corner meetings in the constituency as part of the campaign for the November 13 polls.

A senior leader of the CPI and a former MLA, Mokeri, said the people of Wayanad experienced the result of electing Rahul Gandhi in the past five years and the voters could not even see him.

He accused Rahul Gandhi of abandoning Wayanad the very next day after he was elected for the second time during the April Lok Sabha polls.

"Now, the UDF candidate (Priyanka Gandhi) left the constituency soon after filing the nomination papers. This is what they show to the people," he said.

If a candidate leaves the constituency on the day of filing nominations, it means she is ready to abandon the constituency any time, Mokeri alleged, adding that she won't be with the people of Wayanad.

The LDF candidate questioned what Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka had done for Wayanad and its people following the devastating landslide tragedy.

Mokeri also accused the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha of doing nothing in any area of Wayanad or addressing any of its key issues like human animal conflict or the night travel ban.

Priyanka held corner meetings at four places in Wayanad during the second day of her two-day bypoll campaign in the hill constituency on Tuesday.

Besides Mokeri, the BJP's Navya Haridas, a two-time councillor of the Kozhikode Corporation, is the other candidate in the constituency.

The by-election was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat following his victory in the Rai Bareli constituency in the recent parliamentary elections.