Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president K Surendran filed his nomination papers for the Wayanad constituency at the Collectorate in Kalpetta on Thursday.
Surendran was accompanied by Union Minister Smriti Irani and senior BJP leaders. Earlier, Smriti Irani and Surendran led a roadshow to the Collectorate which was attended by hundreds of workers.
Addressing the workers, Smriti Irani said Rahul Gandhi would abandon Wayanad like Amethi. His absence from the constituency is a clear indication of things to come.
Congress candidate and sitting MP Rahul Gandhi and CPI’s Annie Raja had filed their nomination papers on Wednesday. The BJP state president was a surprise choice for Wayanad since the party had earlier decided not to field him in the Lok Sabha polls as it wanted him to coordinate the election campaign.
The NDA candidate Thushar Vellapally had secured 78,816 votes (7.25 per cent) in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, coming a poor third.
Rahul Gandhi secured 706,367 votes (64.94 per cent) defeating his nearest rival P P Suneer of the CPI by a huge margin of 4,31,770 votes.
