Fifty-two-year-old Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra, younger daughter of Sonia Gandhi and sibling of Rahul Gandhi is being catapulted into parliamentary politics from Wayanad in Kerala. Since Rahul Gandhi who won from Wayanad in the recently held Lok Sabha election is vacating the constituency and retaining Rae Bareli, a by election is due in Wayanad. The announcement made by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday evening was received with glee and enthusiasm by the electorate in Wayanad.
"We wanted Priyanka Gandhi to contest from Wayanad in the eventuality of Rahul Gandhi leaving the constituency to retain Rae Bareli. We had been assured by the Congress High Command that electorate in the constituency woud get an equally happy news at the right time and they have announced the name of Priyanka Gandhi. We welcome Priyanka Gandhi with open hands and assure her that we will leave no stones unturned in our mission to make her win the constituency with mammoth majority," said Sadiq Ali Thangal, the supreme head of the Muslim League.
It is an open secret that the Congress High Command takes all decisions in consultation with the Muslim League. "We will see to it that Priyanka Gandhi overtakes the record majority of 4.32 lakh registered by Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll," said Thangal. In the recent election Rahul Gandhi romped home with a majority of 3.64 lakh votes.
All top leaders of the Congress in Kerala expressed their happiness over the decision of the party High Command to field Priyanka Gandhi from Kerala. K Muraleedharan, former MP who was relegated to third position by BJP's Suresh Gopi at Thrissur declared that he would be in the forefront of the campaign for Priyanka Gandhi. "When a member of the Nehru-Gandhi clan is contesting the election from Kerala, how can Congress workers sit idle?" asked Muraleedharan who had declined all party posts and offer of assembly seats made by the KPCC leadership.
People cutting across party lines said that they were happy that Priyanka Gandhi has chosen Wayanad as her battleground. "We will support even Raihan and Miraya (children of Priyanka and Robert Vadra) if they decide to contest elections from Kerana because of the strong bondage we have with the Gandhi family," said Pradeep, a staunch Congress worker. The election Commission of India is yet to come out with the schedule of the by poll.
Annie Raja, the CPI leader who fought against Rahul Gandhi and fell by the wayside said it was not proper for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad if his heart was with Rae Bareli. " The Left Democratic Front is fully capable of selecting an ideal candidate to contest against Priyanka Gandhi," said Annie Raja, though she remained non-committal about the possibilities of her taking another shot at Wayanad. K Surendran, president, Kerala BJP while blasting Rahul Gandhi for burdening the electorate with a bypoll said that the Congress had cheated the Wayanad electorate. Surendran was decimated by Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
