Priyanka files nomination from Wayanad: ‘Campaigning for 35 years, first time for myself’
#News Bureau October 23,2024
Priyanka Gandhi, who has been a part of politics for nearly 35 years, has started her political innings for the first time. She filed her nomination for the Wayanad by-election on Wednesday. During an event on this occasion, Priyanka said that she has been campaigning for the last 35 years, but this is the first time she is campaigning for herself.
After a mega road show in Kalpetta, Priyanka went to the district collectorate and filed her nomination papers before District Collector and Returning Officer D R Meghashree. During this, her brother Rahul and Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge were also present with her. Her mother Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary K C Venugopal were also present. Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra and son Rehan stood outside the collector’s chamber.
Priyanka said, ‘I was 17 years old when I campaigned for my father (former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi). Then I campaigned for my mother and brother and many of my colleagues. For 35 years I have been campaigning in various elections, but this is the first time I am campaigning in an election and asking for your support for myself. This is a very different feeling.’
She thanked Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for giving her the opportunity to contest the election. She said, ‘If you give me a chance, it will be an honor for me to represent you.’
The bypoll will be held on November 13 and Priyanka will face senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri and Kozhikode city councillor Navya Haridas of the BJP. Confident of winning the seat, the Congress is focusing on increasing Priyanka’s majority.
The Wayanad bypoll was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi, who has been representing the seat since 2019, vacated it to retain Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh after winning both the seats in the April 2024 elections.
This is the first time Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka are campaigning together for an election in Kerala. Sonia’s last election campaign in Kerala was in April 2016, ahead of the state assembly elections. Rahul has been representing Wayanad since 2019, but Sonia had not campaigned for him.
In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, when the victory margins of most UDF candidates in the state had increased sharply compared to 2019, Rahul’s margin had come down to 3.64 lakh from 4.31 lakh in 2019. This time, the party has given charge of various assembly constituencies in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat to MPs and MLAs to ensure there is no complacency. Several senior leaders are also camping in Wayanad to ensure maximum voter turnout.
The bypoll is being held at a time when Wayanad is yet to recover from the devastating landslide of July 30 in which 251 people were killed and 47 went missing. Relief measures will be an issue in the bypoll. Both the Congress and the LDF have been critical of the BJP-led Centre’s reluctance to announce a package for the affe
