Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 2 2024-
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting with his sister and Congress candidate Priyanka Gandhi in Kerala’s Wayanad on Sunday.
As per the party, the Gandhi siblings will jointly address the meeting at the Gandhi Park at Mananthavady in Wayanad at 11.45 a.m.
Rahul Gandhi, the former MP from Wayanad, is subsequently scheduled to address a public meeting at Areekode in Malappuram district, while Priyanka Gandhi is slated to address three other corner meetings in Wayanad.
After two rounds of poll campaigning at Wayanad for her debut election, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will return to the hilly Kerala district on Sunday for another round of electioneering for the November 13 bypoll.
On October 23, when she submitted her nomination papers, Rahul Gandhi was present, though he did not accompany her during the second round of campaigning.
Priyanka Gandhi is slated to address five meetings on Monday, while her programme schedule from November 5 to November 7 will be released later.
The principal fight for the Wayanad seat is between Priyanka Gandhi, the CPI candidate of the ruling CPI-M-led LDF, veteran Sathyan Mokeri and the BJP’s young sitting Kozhikode Corporation Councilor Navya Haridas, who is a former software engineer.
In all, there are 16 candidates in Wayanad.
The Wayanad bypoll was necessitated as Rahul Gandhi vacated this constituency after he decided to retain Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a margin of 4.60 lakh votes, but this came down to 3.64 lakh in 2024.
Of the seven Assembly constituencies that come under the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, four are held by the Congress-led UDF, two by the CPI-M and one was won by the Left-backed Independent legislator P.V. Anvar, who has now split up with the ruling Left and floated his own party. (Agency)