BJP has gone for two-time Kozhikode Corporation Councillor Navya Haridas against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The BJP on Saturday (October 19, 2024) fielded Mahila Morcha leader Navya Haridas for Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency bypoll. She will be pitted against Congress’ national leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the LDF’s Sathyan Mokeri.
The by-election for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat became necessary after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Lok Sabha polls from there and Rae Bareli constituency, decided to vacate it.
While the Congress decided to field Ms. Vadra — in her electoral debut, the BJP went with two-time Kozhikode Corporation Councilor Ms. Haridas.
Software engineer-turned politician
Ms. Haridas comes with some election experience to this crucial contest. She had previously fought from the Kozhikode South Assembly constituency in the 2021 elections.
However, Ms. Haridas was unable to secure victory, and came in third below INL’s Ahamed Devarkovil, and IUML’s Noorbeena Rasheed. Mr. Devarkovil won the 2021 elections with 44.15% of the votes, while Ms. Haridas was restricted at20.89% votes.
According to PTI, Ms. Haridas is a software engineer by profession, while Mr. Haridas serves as the parliamentary party leader for the BJP in the corporation.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra seeks to leverage anti-incumbency
For Ms. Vadra, this bypoll will be a test of Congress’ ability to leverage the anti-incumbency factor.
From Wayanad, in the April general elections, the CPI had fielded its national executive member Annie Raja while the BJP put forward its State president K. Surendran.
Incidentally, the vote share of Mr. Gandhi, who emerged victorious, dwindled from 64.94% in 2019 to 59.69%, while Ms. Raja and Mr. Surendran witnessed an increase of 0.8% and 5.75% respectively in their tally.
The bypoll will reveal whether Ms. Vadra can expand her influence than her brother’s victory margin in the Wayanad constituency that is spread over Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts.
The by-elections will be held on November 13 and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.
