Following a massive roadshow with UDF leaders and party workers in Wayanad, the incumbent MP Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha polls on April 3.
Before filing his nomination papers for the Parliamentary Constituency, the roadshow held by Mr. Gandhi in Kalpetta evoked a massive response, similar to the road show led by him here in 2019,.
Braving the scorching heat, Mr. Gandhi, who was accompanied by Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal as well as senior UDF leaders, rode in an open vehicle decked with a slogan “Rahulinoppam Indiakkay” (for India along with Rahul).
Congress workers flocked to Wayanad from the seven Assembly constituencies, spread over three districts, including Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, to have a glimpse of Mr. Gandhi. Many people travelled from faraway places to join the programme.
The police and security agencies had a tough time controlling the mob as thousands of people had assembled in the town in the early morning itself.
Workers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) congregated in large numbers waving placards with the image of Mr. Gandhi.
The ‘roadshow’ was taken out around 11.40 a.m. after he flew down by 11 a.m. in a helicopter along with his sister to the Thalakkal ground at Rippon, around 14 km away from Kalpetta, and then headed for the new municipal bus stand by a car, where the roadshow began. Hundreds of UDF workers followed the motorcade.
The motorcade concluded near the Chandragiri Auditorium in Kalpetta, where he addressed the public and then went to the Collectorate to file his nomination.
Mr. Gandhi said he was proud to be a parliament member of Wayanad and expressed the love and affection of the public shown to him. Mr. Gandhi said he could see the unity of the people in Wayanad when the landslide tragedy occurred at Puthumala in the district, a few months after the general election in 2019.
There are many issues in the district such as the night traffic ban on the Karnataka parts of the Kozhikode-Kollegal National Highway 766 and Mananthavadi-Mysore State Highway, recurring man-animal conflict and a dearth of medical care facilities to be resolved, Mr. Gandhi said, adding that all the issues would be sorted out if the Congress got a majority in the upcoming polls.
Mr. Gandhi submitted his papers to Wayanad District Collector and District Chief Election Officer Renu Raj around 1.15 p.m.
Earlier in the day, CPI national leader and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Annie Raj also filed her nomination papers around 11 a.m. following her road show.
Unau tribal women’s Forum Manipur state vice-president Glady Waif Kunjan, Tamil Nadu State Minority Commission member Thameem Ansari, and other LDF leaders had accompanied her.
‘Deeply grateful to the people of Wayanad’
The sitting MP of Wayanad, also said that he was always ready to bring the issues being faced by the people of the hill constituency to the attention of the nation and the world. He also said that Wayanad was his home, the people were his family and the land, with its beautiful history and traditions, his “guiding light”.
“I am deeply grateful to the people of Wayanad for their unwavering support. As we step into a new era of ‘Nyay’, I want to reaffirm my dedication to serving each and every one of you to the best of my abilities,” he said.
Mr. Rahul will be contesting against BJP State president K. Surendran and CPI leader Annie Raja from the Wayanad LS constituency.
He had won from the same seat in 2019 with a massive margin of over four lakh votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi won after polling 7,06,367 votes out of a total of 10,92,197 with his closest rival — CPI's P.P. Suneer — receiving only 2,74,597 votes.
Voting in Kerala for the Lok Sabha polls this year will be on April 26.
