Rahul joins Priyanka on last day of Wayanad campaigning
The bypoll in Wayanad will see Priyanka up against Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI and Navya Haridas of the BJP
Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi showed up in his former constituency of Wayanad in Kerala on Monday to support his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s candidacy on the last day of campaigning ahead of the bypoll on Wednesday.
The bypoll in Wayanad, necessitated after Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat to retain his second seat of Rae Bareili in Uttar Pradesh, will see Priyanka up against Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI and Navya Haridas of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While Mokeri is a three-time former MLA who unsuccessfully made a bid for Wayanad in 2014, Haridas is a two-time councillor of Kozhikode Municipal Corporation.
On Monday, the Gandhi siblings took part in two massive roadshows in Sulthan Bathery and Thiruvambady assembly segments in which thousands of supporters of the Congress-led UDF took part, raising slogans and banners.
Rahul Gandhi, standing atop a campaign vehicle, told party workers and voters that his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, has been participating in election campaigns for him, their father, and their mother since 1989. Yet, she has never been an MP, he said.
“Most people campaign for a couple of times and say they want to be the MP. So, I am confident that she will understand and work with you on resolving some of your key demands such as a new medical college, revoking the night traffic ban (to Karnataka) and reduce man-animal conflict. I have already said that Wayanad will be the only constituency in India with two members of Parliament - one unofficial and one official. You will see both of us raising Wayanad’s issues in Parliament,” Rahul Gandhi said.
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In her final campaign speech in Sultan Bathery town, Priyanka Gandhi said it would be her ”greatest honour” to represent the people of the Wayanad constituency in Parliament.
“You have received me with so much love and affection in your homes and on the streets. I am deeply grateful for that. Every morning, I start early and end the day very late, but I have never felt tired because of the love you have given me,” the Congress general secretary said.
Priyanka Gandhi said that she will work “as hard as my brother Rahul” did in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the voters. “If you give me a chance to repay the love you have given me, to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, Rahul will tell you that I am the best fighter you have got,” she said.
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Priyanka Gandhi’s rival and CPI candidate Mokeri said victory for him in Wayanad was certain. “I was able to complete three rounds across this constituency. We have got a good response from the voters. People voted for Rahul Gandhi the last time, but haven’t got the best results. A lot of neutral votes that had drifted away from us in the last two elections will come back to us this time,” he said.
At the same time, BJP candidate Haridas said that the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the last 10 years will work in her favour.
“We are very confident. We are seeing huge support during our public meetings. On the other hand, the Congress were caught distributing food kits with photos of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. These kits came from other states. The party will have to answer questions regarding such allegations to the voters,” she said.
The Wayanad parliamentary constituency, created post delimitation in 2009, has been won by the Congress in the last four elections since. MI Shanavas represented the seat from 2009 to 2019. Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in 2019 in Wayanad of 431,000 votes was the highest in the constituency and saw him elected to the Lok Sabha when he faced defeat at the same time in Amethi. In 2024, Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin came down to 360,000 votes. The constituency consists of three assembly segments in Wayanad district, three in Malappuram and one in Kozhikode district. Minorities account for over 50% of the electorate.
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Campaigning ends in Chelakkara assembly seat
Campaigning for the bypoll to the Chelakkara assembly seat in Thrissur district also came to an end on Monday evening. Supporters of UDF, LDF and NDA gathered in large numbers in the middle of the Chelakkara town for the “kalashakottu” — a display of strength — in the evening, waving flags, banners and dancing amid music.
The bypoll was necessitated after then CPM MLA and temple affairs minister K Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Alathur this year. An LDF stronghold, the constituency has only seen CPM MLAs since 1996.
While the Left has fielded former MLA UR Pradeep, the Congress nominated former MP Ramya Haridas and the BJP K Balakrishnan. In 2021 assembly elections, the CPM had won by a margin of 39,400 votes. The UDF then had a vote share of 28.71% and the BJP 15.68%.