Kerala bypolls: Sonia to accompany Priyanka in Wayanad for nomination filing

Wayanad, Oct 21 (IANS) Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi will visit Wayand after a decade to accompany the party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to file her nomination papers for the upcoming bypolls in Kerala.

“Sonia Gandhi will reach Wayanad on Tuesday evening. She will be accompanied by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. This will be her (Sonia Gandhi’s) first visit to the hilly district of Wayanad after a decade. We are all excited as Sonia is coming to Kerala after a decade,” said a party insider.

Seasoned Congress leader and Kasargod Lok Sabha member Rajmohan Unnithan who is in the Wayanad district overseeing the last-minute arrangements for the roadshow to be held in Kalpetta told IANS that all three leaders will drive up the hill and stay overnight at Sulthan Bathery.

“A place which (Sulthan Bathery) Rahul Gandhi is fond of,” he said.

He added that on Wednesday morning, Sonia and others will accompany Priyanka to the Wayanad collectorate where she will file her nomination for her debut election.

Unnithan said that after filing the nomination, the leaders will return to Delhi.

“As of now, Priyanka will return to Delhi. But she will be in the constituency for 10 days and try to meet as many people as possible. We have no doubt that we will win by a margin of five lakh votes,” added Unnithan.

The CPI has fielded veteran former legislator Sathyan Mokeri who finished a close third during the 2014 general elections in Wayanad while the BJP has brought in young Kozhikode Corporation party Councilor Navya Haridas, a former software engineer who quit her job and plunged into full-time politics

Rahul Gandhi had won the 2019 general elections with a margin of 4.60 lakhs from Wayanad which came down to 3.64 lakhs in this year’s general elections. However, he vacated Wayanad in favour of Rae Bareli.

The Gandhi family has a special love for Wayanad as it was at Papanasini River located near the Tiruneli temple that Rajiv Gandhi’s ashes were immersed in 1991.

Wayanad constituency is spread across seven Assembly constituencies in three districts – Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode.

Of the seven, four are held by the Congress-led UDF, two by the CPI-M and one was won by the Left-backed independent legislator P.V. Anvar who has now split up with the ruling Left and floated his own party.