Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi
Voting will take place on November 13 for the by-election to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. After being elected MP from Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats in the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi resigned from the Wayanad seat and his sister, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, has now been appointed. While CPI’s Satyan Mokeri is trying his luck against Priyanka, BJP’s Navya Haridas is trying his luck. This seat may be considered safe for the Congress, but the Left and the BJP are no less safe either. In such a situation, all eyes are on whether Priyanka Gandhi can break Rahul Gandhi’s victory record in Wayanad or not.
Sensing the political mood in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi contested from Amethi in UP and from Wayanad Lok Sabha in Kerala. Rahul Gandhi lost the election from Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani, while he managed to win from Wayanad. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi had contested elections simultaneously from Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats in 2024. This time, Rahul Gandhi managed to win from both seats, but then made Rae Bareli his workplace and vacated the Wayanad seat, after which Priyanka entered.
Rahul’s victory in Wayanad in 2019 and 2024
In the 2019 elections in Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi got 65 percent of the votes, when he won the elections by 4 lakh 31 thousand votes. 10,87,783 votes were cast in Wayanad seat, in which Rahul Gandhi got 706,367 votes. PP Suneer of CPI got 274,597 votes and Tushar Valapalli of BDGS got 78,816 votes. Thus, Rahul Gandhi won by 4,31,770 votes.
At the same time, in 2024, Rahul Gandhi got 60 percent votes and the victory margin was 3 lakh 64 thousand votes. As of 2024, 10,846,53 voters had exercised their franchise in Wayanad seat. Rahul Gandhi got 647,445 votes, while CPI’s Annie Raja got 283,023 votes and BJP state president K Surendran got 141,045 votes. Rahul Gandhi managed to get 364,422 votes.
BJP had finished third in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, but Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin was lower in 2024 than in 2019. Rahul Gandhi got 5.25 per cent fewer votes than last time and the victory margin too was 6 percent lower. However, in the political history of Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, the record of winning Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by the highest number of votes is definitely in the name of Rahul Gandhi.
Can Priyanka beat Rahul’s winning record?
Priyanka Gandhi has come forward to carry forward the political legacy of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. Since her nomination, Priyanka Gandhi has been camping in Wayanad. To encourage Congress leaders and workers, party general secretary KC Venugopal had claimed that Priyanka Gandhi would win with a record vote. Looking at Wayanad equation, this seat can be considered easy for Priyanka Gandhi but the question is whether Priyanka Gandhi will be able to break Rahul Gandhi’s victory record or not.
Priyanka Gandhi has been active in politics for the last two decades, but she made her debut in electoral politics in the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election. Priyanka Gandhi’s electoral entry is being seen as a new chapter in Congress politics. By fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, the Gandhi family has killed many birds with one stone. On the one hand, there is a strategy to create a political balance between South and North India, while on the other, the Gandhi family sees it as a measure to strengthen their political control over the Congress.
The Congress hopes that the positive impact of Priyanka Gandhi’s entry from Wayanad can be seen in the Kerala elections. The Congress hopes that Priyanka, as an MP from Kerala, will also help in the assembly election campaign. Apart from this, the Congress wants to maintain its control over South Indian politics, so Priyanka Gandhi is trying to score a big victory in Wayanad.
“He will prove to be a better deputy”
From the Kerala Congress to Priyanka’s team, they are busy preparing the political board for the nomination and record victory. Following Priyanka’s arrival in Kerala after Rahul, there is tremendous enthusiasm among the state Congress workers and Priyanka herself has taken the lead in converting it into votes. The target has been set for Priyanka Gandhi to win by more than five lakh votes in Wayanad.
While addressing a public meeting in Wayanad in favor of Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi said his sister would prove to be a better MP than him. In this way, Rahul tried to create a political atmosphere for Priyanka by campaigning in Wayanad, but Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Satyan Mokeri said that if the Congress leader wins the seat, she will hardly be seen in Wayanad. In this way, by creating the issue of local versus external, the Left wants to win the political battle of Wayanad.
Who is giving competition to Priyanka Gandhi?
Referring to her son’s time in boarding school, Priyanka Gandhi said that she used to visit her son’s school so frequently that the principal finally asked her to meet her son less. So if someone says that I will not go to Wayanad, then you know that just like the director, he will say that enough is enough. Go and stay in Delhi for a few days. Not only this, Priyanka Gandhi is writing the script for victory in Wayanad by raising local issues.
Members of Priyanka Gandhi’s team are camping in Wayanad and along with Kerala Congress leaders are going door to door trying to get all the votes. All small and big Congress leaders are working at the grassroots level by setting up camps in Wayanad. Although the Left, BJP and Congress are in the fray for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, the main contest is believed to be between the Left’s Priyanka Gandhi and Satyan Mokeri. Tribal voters in Wayanad are definitely with the BJP, but the Congress fears that if the BJP’s votes go left, it will be difficult for Priyanka Gandhi to beat her brother Rahul’s victory record?
