Wayanad, known across India for its natural beauty, has placed itself among the top constituencies in the political landscape with Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy. The whole country is looking forward for the fight on Wayanad’s soil where Pazhashi Raja, Tipu Sultan and Edachena Kunkan led battles.
Big candidacy
Rahul’s Wayanad candidacy has changed not only Congress’s tactics, but opposing parties’ too. Seven CPM Politburo members including its general secretary Sitaram Yechury will reach the constituency. Nowhere else in Kerala will so many Communist leaders visit this election season. Left is in a situation where they have to attack Rahul in Wayanad and back his party in neighbouring Tamil Nadu constituency Nilgiris. When most opposing candidates started campaigns together, Left’s PP Suneer campaigned without opposition for 19 days.
NDA brought three different candidates here. Kerala Congress state organising secretary Anto Antony started off as NDA-backed independent but backed down as soon as Rahul rumours started flying. Then BDJS state vice-president Pylee Vathyat was introduced. On the third day of his campaign, Thushar Vellappally became candidate. NDA could finalise its Thrissur candidate only after Wayanad.
UDF's Wayanad campaign too went off track due to confusion over Rahul’s candidacy. T Siddique, who backed down for Rahul, was unsure who to seek vote for before Rahul entered fray nine days later.
Easy route to Parliament
UDF sees Wayanad as an easy route to Parliament. They won both polls after the delimitation of 2008. M I Shanavas, who never won before, got a victory margin of 1,53,349 votes in 2009. Though that share came crashing down in 2014, Congress leadership blamed changed political climate for it. But in 2016, Left won 4 of the 7 Assembly seats there. It rules 5 municipalities and 29 of the 50 panchayats.
LDF claims these figures can challenge any drummed-up leader. But UDF says number crunching has become irrelevant after Rahul’s entry. Though LDF has 4 MLAs from constituency, UDF leads in vote share. They are aiming for a 5-lakh margin for Rahul. Ally Muslim League’s votes are with Congress as always. They campaigned for Congress candidate in 2014 as if he was their own.
Good fight on the cards
LDF’s candidate is ahead in miles covered on campaign trail. They are confident of their organisational strength too. M P Veerendrakumar’s LJD’s presence on their side adds vigour. They also carry the message of Congress president’s inappropriate choice of fighting LDF than BJP.
They allege Congress is diluting secularism and weakening larger opposition unity. They believe central leaders’ presence and vote arithmetic will help Suneer. Thushar will target BJP votes since BDJS is weak here. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s planned visits are an effort to this end.
Future of India
The constituency is spread over Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode. Though the name is Wayanad, there are 1.63 lakh voters more from Malappuram and Kozhikode in this seat. Last year’s polled vote percentage of 73.26 is set to increase because of the nature of the contest this time. UDF believes new voters will back them. There are 6,548 new voters.
Many believe Rahul’s candidacy from Wayanad, bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, will positively impact Congress in entire South India. He will stress on the need for South Indian representation in central government throughout his campaign.
