WAYANAD/NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday won the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with a thumping margin of over four lakh votes, surpassing her brother Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in her electoral debut.
The 52-year-old Congress leader defeated Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI(M)-led LDF by securing more than six lakh votes to succeed her brother, Rahul Gandhi, in the hill constituency, which he had won twice since the 2019 elections.
Mokeri got 2,11,407 votes while BJP candidate Navya Haridas finished third with 1,09,939 votes.
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Due to a low voter turnout, Priyanka Gandhi received 6,22,338 votes, less than her brother Rahul’s tally of 647,445 votes during the April Lok Sabha election in the constituency. However, her margin of 410,931 votes surpassed his lead of 364,422 votes, making her maiden victory extra sweet.
With Priyanka’s victory, for the first time in decades, all three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family—Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka—are now in Parliament.
Buoyed by the victory, Priyanka Gandhi, addressing the people of Wayanad as her “dearest sisters and brothers,” said she was “overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust” the people of Wayanad had placed in her.
“I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own,” the Congress general secretary said in a post on X.
In her post, Priyanka Gandhi also thanked her colleagues in the UDF, leaders from across Kerala, workers, volunteers and everyone else who supported her and worked “incredibly hard” in her poll campaign, by “tolerating” her “12 hour a day (no food, no rest) car journeys, and for fighting like true soldiers for the ideals we all believe in”.
“To my mother, Robert and my two jewels- Raihan and Miraya, no gratitude is ever enough for the love and courage you give me. And to my brother, Rahul, you are the bravest of them all… thank you for showing me the way and having my back, always,” she said.
Since filing her nomination on October 23, Priyanka Gandhi launched an energetic campaign in the Lok Sabha constituency, which includes three Assembly segments in Wayanad district, three in Malappuram, and one in Kozhikode, reaching out to voters in almost every village in the region.
Her mother, husband, son, and brother Rahul, along with top Congress leaders including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, party general secretaries, and the Chief Ministers of party-ruled states, visited Wayanad when she held a roadshow in Kalpetta just before filing her nomination in October.
Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign was strongly backed by Congress ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, which has a significant vote share in the constituency.
Rahul Gandhi’s decision to resign from the Wayanad seat and retain the Rae Bareli constituency after winning the two seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in April necessitated the bypoll.
Priyanka Gandhi fought back against opposition claims that she would also “abandon the Wayanad seat as her brother did” if elected. The BJP and the Left also alleged that she would not be present in the constituency when the people needed their representative during emergencies.
Her victory from Wayanad comes at a time when the hilly region is still struggling to recover from the devastating landslides that struck two villages in Meppadi grama panchayat in July, killing over 200, injuring many, and displacing thousands.
Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into Parliament also comes at a difficult time for the party, which has been jolted by electoral defeats in Haryana and Maharashtra. It would be interesting to see if she is able to give a much-needed fillip to the grand old party and help put it back on the electoral track.
Often drawing comparisons with her grandmother Indira Gandhi for their similarity in looks and way of speaking, Priyanka Gandhi has been the go-to campaigner for the party since her entry into active politics and even before that when she campaigned for her mother Sonia and brother Rahul.
In New Delhi, the Congress general secretary met party president Kharge at his residence and thanked him for his support during the campaign.
With Kharge by her side, Priyanka Gandhi said, “I thank the people of Wayanad for giving me the honour to represent them, for giving me so much love when I was there campaigning and then voting for me in the manner that they have. It’s a testament to the fact that my brother worked hard there and their love for him, and their trust in me.”
“I feel it’s a great honour and I will respect it fully… I was just happy getting the love of the people,” she told reporters. (PTI)
