Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday took the first step towards her electoral debut by filing her nomination for the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll in Kerala after 35 years of campaigning for family members and the Congress.
Priyanka, who led a massive roadshow along with her brother and leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, filed her papers in the district headquarters of Kalpetta in the presence of the Congress-led UDF’s senior leaders, including mother Sonia Gandhi and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Handing over the charge to his younger sister, former Wayanad MP Rahul urged the people of the hill region to take care of her just as they had protected and looked after him when he needed it most. Rahul, who represented Wayanad from 2019 to 2024, also said that he would be the “unofficial MP” of the constituency while his sister would be the official MP.
Wayanad acted as a haven for Rahul when the family pocket borough of Amethi slipped away in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Underscoring Wayanad’s importance for Rahul, Priyanka told the gathering: “You stood by my brother when everyone else had turned their backs on him. You gave him your strength and the courage to keep fighting. My whole family will always be indebted to you for this support.”
Priyanka said this was the first time she was reaching out for votes for herself after campaigning for her father, mother, brother and party colleagues for 35 years. The Congress general secretary said the country was being ruled by people who were only driven by power and did not hesitate to subvert democracy or use every means to stay
in office.
“This is not the politics on which our nation was founded,” she said, highlighting how different religions influenced Mahatma Gandhi.
“This is a new journey for me and you are my teachers and guides on this journey,” Priyanka said in an impassioned speech in which she recalled the devastation caused by landslides in Mundakkai and Chooralmala this summer and how the people rose above their personal losses to help each other.
In his speech, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party accepted the demand of the people of Wayanad to field Priyanka as its candidate when Rahul decided to retain the Rae Bareli seat after winning both in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “Now that Priyankaji has embarked on this journey, it is your responsibility, the people of Wayanad, to ensure she wins this election with the highest margin than previous elections,” he said.
About her candidature, Kharge said: “Her presence here today is not just a nomination — it is a promise, a promise that she will be a relentless champion for Wayanad and
its people.”
Congress campaign managers in Kerala ensured that very few party flags were used at the rally to avoid the controversy kicked up by the BJP in 2019 over a large presence of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) flags in a similar mobilisation ahead of Rahul filing his nomination for the general election. Since the IUML is a long-standing ally of the Congress in the UDF, the party decided to use balloons of the colours associated
with the two parties instead.
Maharashtra deal
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday said they would contest 85 seats each in the Maharashtra Assembly elections even as deliberations to seal a final seat-sharing pact were still underway.
Addressing a media conference, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said consensus had been reached on 270 of the 288 seats for the November 20 elections.
“We will include the Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPM, CPI and the AAP. Discussions are still on for the remaining seats. We have amicably arrived at a consensus on 270 seats. The MVA stands united to defeat the Mahayuti government,” Raut said.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the rest of the seats would be left for smaller parties.
Additional reporting by PTI
