Wayana: As the Congress party prepares for its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s first election ever from Kerala’s Wayanad constituency, hoping it to be her ticket to Parliament, one of her rivals poses an uncomfortable question. Left Democratic Front candidate and senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri, who will take on the Congress leader in the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election, on Saturday slammed her, saying what if she “follows Rahul Gandhi’s footsteps”.
“What’s the guarantee Priyanka will be available here? Moreover, what’s the reason why these people were running away from their areas,” questioned Mokeri, casting doubt on Priyanka’s potential availability and commitment to the constituency.
“We all saw Rahul coming and contesting in 2019, and we wish to ask how many days he was here in the constituency during his first term. Then he contested again, won and then vacated it,” said 71-year-old three-time former legislator Mokeri.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad in the 2019 polls with a margin of over 4.60 lakh votes, and in 2024, the margin reduced to 3.64 lakh.
Supreme Court Clears Missing Persons Claims Against Isha Foundation
“The role of a Lok Sabha member is to be available in the constituency to resolve people’s issues. We all saw what and how Rahul Gandhi did in the constituency,” added Mokeri.
Mokeri, who hails from the nearby district of Kozhikode, represented the Nadapuram Assembly constituency from 1987 to 2015.
In 2015, he was elected the Assistant Secretary of the Kerala unit of the CPI.
He is known for his soft demeanour, and this is not the first time he has fought for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he finished a close second to Congress candidate M. I. Shahnawaz, who retained his seat.
State BJP president K. Surendran, who finished a distant third at the 2024 polls from Wayanad, believes that the upcoming polls will be a game changer, hinting at a potential shift in the region’s political dynamics.
Kerala will witness two Assembly by-elections at Palakkad and Chelakara, along with the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
“Presently, the Kerala Assembly does not have a BJP legislator, and when the results for the assembly by-elections are announced, just like what happened in Thrissur when the BJP won the seat, we will see that the BJP’s sound reverberates in the assembly,” said Surendran.
For more updates Subscribe to Media Eye News
–IANS
