The novelty of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi contesting his second seat from Wayanad catapulted this hill constituency, spread across Wayanad, Kozhikode, and Malappuram districts, into the national limelight in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
That factor may have withered away now but his landslide victory of more than 4.3 lakh votes over Left Democratic Front candidate P.P. Suneer is still etched in the electoral history of Wayanad.
Now, as the political stage is set anew, the LDF has fielded Annie Raja, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women and national executive member of the Communist Party of India, to challenge Mr. Gandhi’s dominance.