Synopsis
Seven months after the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party’s campaign strategy in Wayanad has shifted focus. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, vying for her brother Rahul Gandhi’s former seat, is being portrayed as a symbol of sacrifice and a relatable figure to voters. While the LDF remains a strong contender, the campaign aims to maintain the Congress’s hold on the constituency.
ANIIn the seven months since the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress party’s campaign strategy in Wayanad has seen a shift. The LDF and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan are not the principal target of attack for Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The campaign is designed to bring the latter, who is seeking to inherit her brother’s seat, closer to voters. She is being projected as a symbol of sacrifice and the party wants voters to see her as a member of their families.
When Gandhi Vadra, 52, filed her nomination on October 23, her mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, too was around, on her first visit to Wayanad.
Occasionally, the UDF candidate attacks the Modi regime though the BJP has been her distant opponent in a constituency where Muslims and Christians make up more than half the local population. The LDF has a strong presence, but the entry of the Gandhis limited its influence in the Lok Sabha seat across the three districts. The talk is not about whether Gandhi Vadra will win, but by what margin, whether Wayanad will see a similar voter turnout as before and whether the younger Gandhi will sustain her brother’s victory margin.
“We don’t see the same voter enthusiasm of 2019 when Rahul Gandhi first contested,” said Naushad CK, a local resident.
Two polls in less than seven months may have induced fatigue among sections of voters, said locals.
On November 3, Rahul Gandhi told voters in Mananthavady that if his sister wins, they will effectively have two MPs. He will also work as their informal MP, joining his sister to pursue the region’s demands, he said.
Wayanad district, draped in sprawling tea and coffee plantations with tourism as its economic backbone, is returning to normalcy after about 250 persons died in disastrous landslides caused by rains and swollen streams on July 30, destroying homes and livelihoods. Gandhi Vadra, during her unscheduled interactions with local communities, has vowed to rebuild their lives.
She has taken on LDF veteran Sathyan Mokeri (71) and the BJP’s upcoming woman leader Navya Haridas, 39, a former techie.
