THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The by-elections for the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency and the Palakkad, Chelakkara assembly constituencies will be held on November 13, with the counting scheduled for November 23.
The Wayanad seat became vacant after Rahul Gandhi chose to retain Rae Bareli. He was victorious in both Wayanad and Rae Bareli in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The by-elections for the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies were necessitated due to the election of sitting MLAs Congress's Shafi Parambil and CPM's K Radhakrishnan to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara and Alathur, respectively.
The AICC had already announced that Priyanka Gandhi would contest from Wayanad. Her maiden electoral contest is likely to impact Kerala's political landscape significantly.
Following the proposal of her candidacy for Wayanad by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi in June, Priyanka Gandhi's initial response was, "I will not let the people of Wayanad feel my brother's absence." This statement underscored the significance the family places on the constituency. Wayanad has thus become the third constituency to be associated with the Gandhi family, after Rae Bareli and Amethi.
In 2024, Rahul Gandhi received 647,445 votes, a decrease from the 708,367 votes he obtained in 2019. He won against his closest competitor, CPI's Annie Raja, with a margin of 364,422 votes. The ruling CPM-led LDF and the BJP have not yet declared their candidates for the Wayanad constituency. Leaders from both parties have stated that they will decide on their respective candidates within the next few days.
Political parties in Kerala are requesting the rescheduling of the elections planned for October 13 in the Palakkad constituency due to the Kalpathi Ratholsavam, a significant festival in the district. Opposition Leader V D Satheeshan has petitioned the Election Commission to advance the bypoll in the Palakkad assembly constituency by one day.
