Wayanad: Congress General Secretary and Wayanad Lok Sabha seat bypoll candidate, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday offered prayers at the renowned Thirunelli Mahavishnu Temple, with the visit holding personal significance for her as the ashes of her father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, were immersed in the Papanasini river there.
“Today, I visited the ancient Thirunelli Temple in Wayanad, Kerala – it is special to me as my father’s ashes were immersed in the Papanasini River that runs beside the temple. May Lord Mahavishnu always protect the people of Wayanad and bless them with good health and happiness,” she said in a post on X, adding pictures of her visit.
She was accompanied by senior Congress leaders, including Sulthan Bathery MLA, I.C. Balakrishnan.
The Congress leader, who was chosen to contest the bypoll after her brother and sitting MP Rahul Gandhi chose to retain the family borough Rae Bareli in UP, has been in Wayanad since last Sunday and has held several meetings and interactions with the voters across the constituency since then. She was joined by Rahul Gandhi for a joint public meeting last Sunday itself and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday.
As she fights her first poll battle, she has been crisscrossing the constituency which spans seven Assembly constituencies – three each in the Wayanad and Malappuram districts and one in the Kozhikode district.
On Sunday, she had different programmes in the Mananthavady-ST, Kalpetta, and Sultan Bathery-ST Assembly segments.
On Monday, she will be joined by Rahul Gandhi for a joint roadshow from the Assumption Junction to Chungam Junction in Sultan Bathery, slated for the morning, and then another joint roadshow from the Gram Panchayat Office to the Bus Stand in the Thiruvambadi constituency of the neighbouring Kozhikode district, in the afternoon.
Prominent Congress leaders have expressed confidence in Priyanka Gandhi’s victory by a substantial margin. Party insiders are anticipating a margin of around 500,000 votes in her favour.
CPI leader Satyan Mokeri is contesting as the Left Democratic Front candidate while BJP leader Navya Haridas is contesting for the NDA.
Apart from Rahul Gandhi and party chief Kharge, senior party leader Sonia Gandhi, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and Sachin Pilot have campaigned for her.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi won Wayanad with a margin of 364,422 votes, defeating CPI candidate Annie Raja. The BJP candidate, K. Surendran, came in third with 141,045 votes.
However, Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin had dipped as he had set a record in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, winning Wayanad by a margin of 431,770 votes.
(IANS)
