THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Election Commission announced the dates for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election, workers from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) began campaigning for their star candidate, Priyanka Gandhi.
Posters, banners, and wall writings have emerged throughout the constituency, with Congress and the Muslim League workers spearheading the campaign efforts. The campaign committee members of the constituency convened a meeting on Wednesday for an initial discussion on the campaign strategy. The polling for Wayanad constituency will take place on November 13.
UDF's main competitors, the CPI and the BJP, have yet to finalize their candidates. CPI's national leader Annie Raja and BJP state president K Surendran respectively contested against Rahul Gandhi in recent Lok Sabha polls.
The UDF leadership is upbeat over Priyanka's maiden electoral contest and claim that they would ensure a victory by a margin of over five lakh votes. The Congress general secretary is not new to the constituency as she had actively campaigned for her brother in 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Priyanka also visited the constituency when Rahul was disqualified as MP. They also camped in Wayanad for two days soon after the devestating landslides wreaked havoc in Chooralmala and Mundakkai on July 30.
While even the rivals beleive that the elections are going to be a smooth affair for Priyanka, both the CPI and BJP are exploring all possibilities of fielding formidable candidates to put up a good fight against her.
The delay by BJP led Central government on providing financial assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas devastated by the landslides is going to be a major campaign issue. Though the Prime Minister visited the affected areas and promised all help, the government is yet to grant assistance.
The state government has submitted a memorandum demanding Rs 2000 cr financial assistance for implementing the comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in the affected areas.
