All eyes will be on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday, when the winter session of Parliament starts, following her thumping victory in her electoral debut from Wayanad.
Priyanka won by 410,931 votes against her main opponent, Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI, which is part of the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala. Her landslide win, which belied fears about a low voter turnout of 64.24 per cent reducing her victory margin, has given the state Congress a much-needed impetus.
Congress workers believe that a new era has arrived with the 52-year-old’s long-awaited entry into the Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had been elected from Wayanad as well as Rae Bareli in the summer general election. He gave up the Kerala seat, necessitating a by-election.
Rahul had polled 647,445 votes in April compared with Priyanka’s 622,338 in the by-election, but the sister’s victory margin of 4.1 lakh is way ahead of the brother’s 3.64 lakh.
Still, she has not surpassed Rahul’s record margin of 431,770 from Wayanad in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
This Wayanad by-election took place after the region was hit by devastating landslides that killed more than 230 people in Chooralmala and Mundakkai.
After her resounding victory, Priyanka tweeted that she felt “overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust” the voters had placed in her.
“My dearest sisters and brothers of Wayanad, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own,” she wrote on X.
“I look forward to being your voice in Parliament! Thank you for giving methis honour and even more for the immense love you have given me.”
Priyanka thanked UDF leaders and supporters. “My colleagues in the UDF, leaders from across Kerala, workers, volunteers and my office colleagues who worked incredibly hard in this campaign, thank you for your support, for tolerating my12-hour a day (no food, no rest) car journeys, and for fighting like true soldiers for the ideals we all believe in,” she wrote.
She remembered her family fondly: “To my mother, Robert and my two jewels — Raihan and Miraya, no gratitude is ever enough for the love and courage you give me.And to my brother, Rahul, you are the bravest of them all... thank you for showing methe way and having my back, always!”
Priyanka’s hectic campaign lasted 14 days. Not once did she urge the voters tosupport the Congress’s hand symbol; but wherever she went, people swarmed toher promising her a winning mandate.
The CPI has been seething after its dismal performance, which saw Mokeri polling 211,407 votes.
The party — at loggerheads with the CPM leadership and the LDF government over a slew of corruption charges — has alleged that a large chunk of CPM leaders refrained from campaigning for Mokeri, contrary to its expectations.
BJP candidate Navya Haridas, a software engineer turned politician, came third with 109,939 votes. Haridas couldn’t create much of a buzz, unlike state BJP president K. Surendran when he contested against Rahul in the general election.
The Assembly by-elections in Palakkad and Chelakkara saw the UDF and the LDF defend their seats.
While state Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkoottathil won comfortably against the BJP’s C. Krishnakumar in Palakkad by 18,840 votes, U.R. Pradeep of the CPM defeated former Alathur MP Ramya Haridas from the reserved seat of Chelakkara by 12,201 votes.
Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan had faced flak for fielding Rahul Mamkoottathil from Palakkad when he originally belonged to Pathanamthitta, a district in central Kerala. It was therefore a do-or-die battle for Satheesan and Rahul’s mentor and Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil.