New Delhi, November 23, 2024: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in her election debut, is set to outperform her brother Rahul Gandhi by leaps and bounds as she took a lead by a margin of over 4 lakh votes in Kerala’s Wayanad bypolls.
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi bagged a massive win in the constituency by grabbing 6,47,445 votes by a margin of 3,64,422.
By the time of writing this piece, Priyanka Gandhi had secured 6,17,942 votes against her rivals Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Sathyan Mokeri and BJP candidate Navya Haridas.
The Wayanad seat, once held by Rahul Gandhi, has drawn nationwide attention as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stepped into the race. Local Congress leaders predicted that Vadra could secure nearly six lakh of the 9.52 lakh votes cast. In comparison, the Left Democratic Front’s Sathyan Mokeri is projected to receive about two lakh votes, while the BJP’s Haridas is expected to garner around one lakh.
"An amazing first trend on counting day is the massive early lead for our leader @priyankagandhi ji in Wayanad, Kerala, by-election. People of Wayanad are surely going to record victory margins today, and Priyanka ji will make Parliamentary debut with a grand win," Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and a Congress ally from the Indian Union Muslim League predicted that Priyanka Gandhi would surpass her brother Rahul Gandhi’s record in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in April, news agency PTI reported.
The bypoll in Wayanad was necessitated after the resignation of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who vacated the seat after winning the Raebareli seat in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.