New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will file her nomination for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-poll in Kerala on Wednesday, marking her electoral debut. Priyanka Gandhi will file the nomination papers in the presence of her mother and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and a host of other leaders.Priyanka Gandhi visited a local family in the constituency and the home of an ex-serviceman after reaching Kerala along with Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. The duo were welcomed by party workers upon their arrival in Sulthan Bathery. The Wayanad seat was vacated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi who retained the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha Constituency.Ahead of her nomination, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to hold a roadshow at 11:00 am from Kalpetta Bus Stand. She will then file her nomination papers to the district collector’s office at Kalpetta. According to the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi will address a public meeting at 11: 45 am at Gudalai, opposite, KWA Office, Kalpetta.
Gandhi is up against Navya Haridas, a candidate fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) candidate Sathyan Mokeri. Haridas is a two-time Kozhikode Corporation councillor.Rahul Gandhi had said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad would get two MPs and had also expressed confidence in Priyanka Gandhi winning from Wayanad. If Priyanka Gandhi wins from Wayanad, she will be the third person from the Gandhi family to enter Parliament.WaPriyanka Gandhi was responsible for taking care of the Gandhi family’s stronghold in Amethi and Rae Bareli before entering active politics, where she emerged as an important strategist for her party.
The by-poll in the Wayanad is scheduled to be held on November 13. (ANI)