Priyanka Gandhi: Member of the Renowned Political Family Set for Her Debut in Parliamentary Politics
This time, a member of India's most famous political family will enter parliamentary politics for the first time. This family is none other than the Gandhi family, and this member is Priyanka Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad constituency of Kerala, is moving towards a big victory.
Voting was held on November 13 for the by-election on the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, which was vacant after the resignation of Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi. The results will be released today. In the initial trends, Congress leader and Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi is leading by about 5 lakh votes. At the same time, the Communist Party is in second place, while the BJP is lagging in third place.
Although Priyanka Gandhi is a member of a famous political family, she is contesting parliamentary elections for the first time in this By-Election. However, she has been involved in active politics for many years. Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been serving as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee since 2020. This time, if she wins from the Wayanad constituency, it will be her debut in parliamentary politics.
Rahul Gandhi won this seat for the second consecutive time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He defeated CPI (M) candidate Annie Raja by more than 3 lakh 64 thousand votes. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, apart from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi also contested from Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. After winning both the seats, Rahul decided to leave the Wayanad seat and Priyanka Gandhi was fielded in the by-election from here.
This time 16 candidates are in the fray in Wayanad. Priyanka is contesting elections for the first time. The Marxist Communist Party-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded Satyan Mokeri and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded Navya Haridas.
In the 2024 General elections, the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat recorded a voter turnout of 73.57 percent. At that time, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi got a total of 6,47,445 votes, while his nearest rival Annie Raja was reduced to 2,83,023 votes. Similarly, BJP candidate K Surendran, who came third, got just 141,045 votes.
Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in South India has been a high-profile seat. In 2019, Rahul Gandhi contested from here after losing the election in Amethi and won and reached Parliament. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi contested this seat and got a total of 7,06,367 votes. According to the Election Commission data, Rahul Gandhi got a total of 64.94 percent votes. At that time, PP Suneer of CPI (Marxist), who came second, got only 2,74,597 votes. Late Congress leader MI Shanavas was elected MP from this seat in the years 2009 and 2014. After his unfortunate demise in 2018, Rahul Gandhi filed for nomination from this seat in the 2019 elections.