Priyanka Gandhi's electoral debut from Wayanad, BJP's high chances in Palakkad make bypolls in Kerala crucial

Thiruvananthapuram: While the maiden entry of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad is quite certain, the most crucial factor of the bypolls in Kerala is whether the BJP will make an entry to the Kerala Assembly from Palakkad.

Bypolls to Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly seats vacated by Shafi Parambil of Congress and K Radhakrishanan of the CPI(M) respectively on being elected to the Lok Sabha will be held on November 13.

Congress already announced Priyanka as Wayanad candidate, while Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil and former Lok Sabha MP Ramya Haridas are Congress candidates at Palakkad and Chelakkara, respectively.

CPI, which fielded national leader Annie Raja at Wayanad in the last Lok Sabha poll, is yet to finalise the candidate. CPI(M) is also expected to announce candidates for Palakkad and Chelakkara soon. BJP is also yet to announce the candidates.

Wayanad being a stronghold of Congress and its coalition partner Indian Union Muslim League, a victory for Priyanka is quite certain. But the BJP will make all out efforts to bring down the victory margin that Rahul Gandhi had.

While Rahul won with a huge margin of 4.3 lakh in 2019 by securing 65 percent votes, in 2024 Rahul's victory margin came down to 3.6 lakh and vote share fell to 59.6 percent. BJP-led NDA could increase vote share from 7.25 percent in 2019 to 13 percent in 2024 by fielding party state president K Surendran in the last election. A similar move of fielding a prominent candidate could be expected this time too from BJP.

The real heat of the bypoll will be on Palakkad where the BJP came second to the Congress in the last two Assembly polls. 'Metro man' E Sreedharan, who was BJP candidate in 2021, lost to Congress' Shafi Parambil by only 3,859 votes. Already, there is a tug of war between BJP firebrand woman leader Sobha Surendran and party senior leader from Palakkad district C Krishnakumar for the seat, whereas there are also reports that BJP may field party state president Surendran to ensure that the chance to make an entry to the Kerala assembly is not missed.

At present, BJP do not have any MLA in Kerala Assembly. BJP's O Rajagopal won the 2016 Assembly polls from Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram and became the maiden BJP MLA in Kerala. But BJP lost the seat in 2021.

Chelakkara, which is a seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste, has been held by CPI(M) since 1996 and it would not be an easy task for the Congress to wrest the seat from the ruling party.

Under currents will be quite certain in the bypolls which is crucial for the ruling CPI(M) in saving its face and it is caught up n a series of allegations, including nexus with BJP, and had suffered defeat in 19 of the 20 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

Dissident left-front MLA P V Anvar already alleged that the CPI(M) and BJP had entered into an understanding on Palakkad and Chelakkara seats. CPI(M) would help BJP at Palakkad seat and in return the saffron party would help CPI(M) at its Chelakkara seat, he said.

Congress, BJP demand to reschedule Palakkad bypolls

Congress and BJP in Kerala have urged the Election Commission to reschedule the bypoll to the Palakkad Assembly constituency in view of the famed Kalpathi Ratholsavam festival of the district.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress sent a letter to the Election Commission in this regard. He urged that the Palakkad bypoll may be rescheduled to a date before November 13.

BJP state president K Surendran sent a letter to the election commission urging that the bypoll may be rescheduled to November 20.