The Left Democratic Front in Kerala has kicked off preparations for what it says would be a fight few would forget easily in Wayanad, shrugging off the initial disappointment after the Congress’s surprise decision to field Rahul Gandhi from the constituency.

CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and his CPI counterpart Kanam Rajendran have held separate meetings with party cadres to egg them on ahead of the April 23 vote.

Sources said CPI national secretary D. Raja was expected to arrive on Wednesday as part of a larger plan to fill any gaps in the unexpected fight against the Congress chief.

Kodiyeri and Rajendran have both told their party cadres the Congress shouldn’t be allowed to walk away with an easy win.

“The party has decided to intensify election work starting from the booth level,” Kodiyeri told reporters after his meeting with party workers.

Santosh Kumar, convener of the CPM’s election committee in Wayanad, was confident of a fight few would forget. “We had already met 3.5 lakh voters over 24 days, well before the Congress announced Rahul Gandhi’s name. So we are not afraid of a big contest at all,” Kumar told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

“We did not consider that Rahul would contest here while naming our candidate. But the Congress knew who we had fielded here,” he said alluding to P.P. Suneer of the CPI who faces his biggest ever electoral challenge yet.

“It (Rahul’s candidature) was unexpected. So we have to take it forward with full energy,” Kumar said, reflecting the LDF’s disappointment that there wouldn’t be a broad opposition against the BJP.

“This is going to be a very tough election and we will ensure it won’t be a cakewalk for the Congress.”

The LDF, which rules Kerala, appears to have done its math.

“The Congress won from Wayanad in 2009 with a majority of about 2.5 lakh votes but saw its margin shrink to 20,000 in 2014. But in the (2016) state elections, that margin shrunk further to just 19,000,” Kumar said.

Wayanad, a relatively new constituency in north Kerala that voted in the parliamentary elections for the first time in 2009, has seven Assembly segments spread across three districts — Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad; Nilambur, Eranad and Wandoor in Malappuram, and Thiruvambady in Kozhikode.

In the 2016 state elections, the CPM-led LDF won four out of these seven Assembly seats.

“What we saw over the years a steady rise in our votes and an equal drop in the votes of the Congress,” Kumar said.

He disagreed with the Congress’s perception that Wayanad was a “safe” seat for Rahul. “Today there is nothing like a safe constituency any more. It all depends on how we work at the ground level,” Kumar said.

Rahul is scheduled to file his nomination papers from Wayanad on Thursday. His party is planning a rousing reception by taking him around Kalpetta, the district headquarters.