Wayanad Bypoll: Priyanka Gandhi makes her poll debut
Kerala’s Wayanad is in the news once again, this time due to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sister of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary, submitted her nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha by poll, in the presence of senior party members Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge.
Despite being seen as a stronghold for the Congress party, the competition in Wayanad will be tough due to the opponents that Priyanka will face.
Priyanka Gandhi makes her electoral debut in the Lok Sabha by-poll. Priyanka refrained from getting involved in electoral politics for an extended period, dedicating her efforts to campaigning for her family members and other members of Congress. The Congress party views the 52-year-old’s decision to enter the electoral race as a strategic maneuver.
In Wayanad, as mandated following Rahul Gandhi’s departure, Priyanka Gandhi will be up against Sathyan Mokeri from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Navya Haridas from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is primarily a three-way competition despite the presence of a couple of other candidates in the mix.
Rahul Gandhi, who emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad and Raebareli, chose to keep the Uttar Pradesh seat, which has been a stronghold for the Gandhi family and was previously held by Sonia Gandhi for four consecutive terms.
Also read: Modi, Jinping arrive at Brics Summit venue for 1st meeting in 5 years
The Congress party’s general secretary had previously expressed concerns about having all three members of the Gandhi family serving in Parliament.
Placing Priyanka in Wayanad is seen by experts as a way to protect the Congress from backlash over the Gandhi family’s lack of attention to the South, even though the party has gained significant electoral support in the region.
Who is Navya Haridas
Navya Haridas, who is the candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), combines both professional and political expertise in the competition. She has been labeled as a “politician by chance”.
Before getting into politics, Haridas worked as a software engineer in Singapore and the Netherlands. Upon returning to India, she became a two-time councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation and currently holds the position of Mahila Morcha State General Secretary for the BJP.
Navya told The Indian Express about how she accidentally entered politics in 2015 while vacationing with her children in Kozhikode.
“It was election time, and the BJP approached me with a ticket, considering my family’s Sangh Parivar background. I was fielded from the general seat in the corporation. Overnight, I became the candidate. My plan was to return to Singapore if I had lost,” Navya Haridas told The Indian Express.
Haridas, who had prior experience in elections, ran for the Kozhikode South Assembly seat in the 2021 election. Despite finishing third, she notably increased the BJP’s share of votes.
Haridas previously ran in the 2021 Assembly election in the Kozhikode South Assembly constituency, coming in third place and greatly boosting the BJP’s vote percentage.
