Outsiders dominate Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election race

Wayanad (Kerala): Kerala has a history of electing leaders from outside the state as Lok Sabha MPs, with former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi being the latest, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might join the list if the electors here give her the thumbs up in the November 13 bypoll.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, who represented the Lok Sabha segment before vacating it, several leaders from outside the state have served as MPs from Kerala. They are-- Muhammad Ismail from Tamil Nadu, G M Banatwala from Maharashtra, and Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait from Karnataka, all of whom were elected as IUML MPs multiple times from the southern state.

Interestingly, a host of 'outsiders' are among the contestants for next week's elections.

Among them is "Election King" K Padmarajan from Tamil Nadu, who earned the moniker following his over 200 unsuccessful electoral bids, including against top leaders and former Prime Ministers AB Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, besides PM Narendra Modi. Jayendra K Rathod from Gujarat, who ran against Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha polls, is among the 11 candidates in the fray from the hill constituency.

Setting a new record of the highest number of candidates from outside the state contesting a poll in Kerala, the list includes Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is making her electoral debut.

The other out-of-state candidates in the Wayanad by-election include Independent A Noor Muhammed from Tamil Nadu, Gopal Swaroop Gandhi of the Kisan Majdoor Berojgar Sangh from Uttar Pradesh and A Seetha of the Bahujan Dravida Party from Tamil Nadu.

Also running are Independent Ismail Zabi Ullah from Karnataka, Independent Sonhu Singh Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Shaik Jaleel of the Navarang Congress Party from Andhra Pradesh, Duggirala Nageswara Rao of the Jatiya Jana Sena Party from Telangana, and another Independent, Rukmini, from Karnataka.

CPI's Sathyan Mokeri and BJP's Navya Haridas are the respective parties' nominees.

R Rajan, an independent, is the only candidate in the fray hailing from the hill constituency. However, the 63-year-old Kalpetta native said he is now working for the victory of Priyanka Gandhi. When asked why he filed his nomination, he said, "I don't want to disclose that matter now." Many of the candidates from outside Kerala and their associated parties are largely unfamiliar to voters in Wayanad, who feel that most are contesting only to claim the credit of running against Priyanka Gandhi, a high-profile candidate.

Their campaigns are barely visible in the hill constituency, raising doubts about their actual presence and efforts in the race.

Rathod (40) from the Right to Recall Party (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), a post graduate in Cyber Security and Incident Response from Gujarat Forensic Science University, is contesting in Wayanad to protest against what he views as flawed education policies by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre.

"Currently I am in Gujarat as I have to return back from Wayanad due to some personal reasons. I will come back by November 11 and campaign for two days," he told PTI.

"I contested against Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2019 as a BSP candidate and garnered 64,000 votes. In 2024, I withdrew my nomination due to pressure from the BJP," he claimed.

Seetha of the Bahujan Dravida Party told PTI she started her campaign on Wednesday. "The party leaders will decide what kind of campaign we will carry out--whether it will be public meetings or door-to-door campaigns--in the coming days," said Seetha, a document writer from Chennai.

She has prior experience in elections, having contested as a Bahujan Dravida Party candidate for the Tenkasi (SC) seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to her, the party seeks representation for Dalits and other marginalised sections in law-making bodies, which is why she is contesting the Wayanad LS seat in the November 13 by-election.

Independent candidate K Padamarajan, 65, from Tamil Nadu claims to have contested 245 elections, including six for the post of president and six for vice president.

"I have even contested against four prime ministers: Narendra Modi in Vadodara in 2014, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow, P V Narasimha Rao in 1996, and Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha election," he said.

When askes, Padmarajan, who is currently staying in Kalpetta, admitted that he isn't engaged in active campaigning.

"I have spent around Rs 1 crore on my election bids," he told PTI. Padmarajan, who runs a tyre-puncture shop in Tamil Nadu, also revealed that his election symbol is a tyre--an ironic nod to his profession.

Interestingly, Padmarajan's email ID and all his social media accounts, according to his election affidavit, go by the name 'Padmarajan Electionking'.

Political observers note that Kerala has a long history of outstation candidates.

Apart from Rahul, several leaders from outside the state have served as MPs from Kerala.

Muhammad Ismail, the former national president of the Muslim League, was the first outsider to win a seat in Kerala, representing Manjeri in 1962. He was followed by Sulaiman Sait, who represented Kozhikode, Manjeri and Ponnani between1967 and 1991. He was also a Rajya Sabha member from Kerala from 1960 to 1966.

Banatwala, a former president of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1967 and went on to serve seven terms in the Lok Sabha, representing Ponnani in Kerala from 1977 to 1989 and 1996 to 2004.