Wayanad, Oct 19 (IANS): Left Democratic Front candidate and senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri, who will take on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election, on Saturday slammed her, saying what if she "follows Rahul Gandhi's footsteps".

"What's the guarantee Priyanka will be available here? Moreover, what's the reason why these people were running away from their areas," said Mokeri.

"We all saw Rahul coming and contesting in 2019 and we wish to ask how many days he was here in the constituency during his first term. Then he contested again, won and then vacated it," said 71-year-old three-time former legislator Mokeri.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad in the 2019 polls with a margin of over 4.60 lakh votes, and in 2024, the margin reduced to 3.64 lakh.

"The role of a Lok Sabha member is to be available in the constituency to resolve people's issues. We all saw what and how Rahul Gandhi did in the constituency," added Mokeri.

Mokeri, who hails from the nearby district of Kozhikode, represented the Nadapuram Assembly constituency from 1987 to 2015.

In 2015, he was elected the Assistant Secretary of the Kerala unit of the CPI.

He is known for his soft demeanour and it's not the first time he is fighting it out at the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he finished a close second to Congress candidate M. I. Shahnawaz who retained his seat.

Meanwhile, State BJP president K. Surendran, who finished a distant third at the 2024 polls from Wayanad, said the upcoming polls will be a game changer.

Along with the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, Kerala will witness two Assembly by-elections at Palakkad and Chelakara.

"Presently, the Kerala Assembly does not have a BJP legislator and when the results for the assembly by-elections are announced, just like what happened in Thrissur when the BJP won the seat, we will see that the BJP’s sound reverberates in the assembly," said Surendran.