Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 (IANS): Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson and former party President, Sonia Gandhi, will campaign in Kerala's Wayanad for her daughter and party General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi, who is contesting her first electoral battle.
Priyanka Gandhi will be contesting from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where a by-election was necessitated after sitting MP Rahul Gandhi, who was also elected from UP's Raebareli, vacated the seat to retain the family stronghold.
The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat will go to polls on November 13, along with the Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly seats. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Sonia Gandhi is returning to Kerala after many years and will be joined by both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for a roadshow scheduled for Tuesday, according to state Congress leaders.
Rahul Gandhi had retained the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 3,64,422 votes over his nearest rival, Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India. This was, however, a dip against his 2019 performance when he won with a record majority of 4,31,770 votes over P. P. Suneer of the CPI.
After Rahul Gandhi vacated the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, the state Congress unit invited Priyanka Gandhi to contest and announced her as the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from Wayanad.
Senior Congress leaders in Kerala are expecting a majority of more than five lakh votes for Priyanka Gandhi from the UDF stronghold of Wayanad.
Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal, who is also the MP from the state's Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat, will be coordinating Priyanka Gandhi's election campaign in Wayanad.
Meanwhile, Indian Union Muslim League leader P. K. Basheer, who is the MLA from Eranad - which forms part of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, claimed in an election committee meeting that Congress workers in Wayanad were lethargic during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He mentioned that in Assembly constituencies led by Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi could not secure a huge majority, while in constituencies led by Muslim League leaders, he achieved good leads.
He urged Congress leaders to be proactive in their constituencies and increase Priyanka Gandhi's lead so that she secures a record-winning margin.
The CPI has fielded senior leader and former MLA Sathyan Mokeri, who criticised Rahul Gandhi for being unavailable for common voters, including tribals, after winning the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in both 2019 and 2024.
He predicted a similar situation in Wayanad if Priyanka Gandhi won, and urged the people to vote for him and help the Left Democratic Front (LDF) win the by-election in the Wayanad constituency.
The BJP has announced the candidature of Mahila Morcha State General Secretary, Navya Haridas, from Wayanad.
State BJP President, K. Surendran, had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad.