UDF hails Priayanka’s candidature in Wayanad
The United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership has hailed the Congress’ decision to field Priyanka Gandhi from the Wayanad constituency to be vacated by Rahul Gandhi. All eyes are now on Ms. Gandhi to see if she can repeat the astonishing majority recorded by her brother or surpass it.
The byelection in Wayanad was necessitated after Mr. Gandhi decided to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh, which he won along with Wayanad.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad at a press conference on Monday.
“We hope Ms. Gandhi will win the bypoll with a margin of more than five lakh votes,” T. Siddique, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee working president and Kalpetta MLA, told The Hindu.
He said Ms. Gandhi would rejuvenate the UDF.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja, a major contender against Mr. Gandhi in the Lok Sabha election, said the decision on her candidature would be taken by the party. Ms. Raja also batted for more women representation in Parliament and expressed happiness that the UDF had named a woman candidate.
“Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have decided and announced that they will retain Rae Bareli and leave Wayanad. Whether I will contest or not from Wayanad again will be the decision of my party. Elections have not been announced so far, so we have plenty of time to discuss the candidature,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Gandhi said on Monday that she would contest the bypoll from Wayanad but maintained that her decades-long association with Amethi and Rae Bareli would continue.
“I am happy to be able to represent Wayanad, and I will not let them feel his [Rahul Gandhi’s] absence. I will work hard and try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative,” she said.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan expressed confidence that Ms. Gandhi would win with a historic majority. “Rahul and the party have assigned dearest Priyanka for Wayanad. Welcome to Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi. With a historic majority, Priyanka will become Kerala’s dearest,” Mr. Satheesan said in a post.
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