Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her poll debut from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, secured a historic victory with a record-breaking margin of over 4 lakh votes over her nearest rival, LDF’s Sathyan Mokeri, surpassing the record set by her brother Rahul Gandhi.
AMN
The Congress has retained the two Lok Sabha seats for which byelections were held recently. AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has won Wayanad in Kerala by a landslide margin while the party’s Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan has won Nanded in Maharashtra by a thin margin of 1,457 votes.
While Priyanka polled 6,22,338 votes, her nearest rival, LDF’s CPI candidate Sathyan Mokeri, secured 2,11,407 votes, and BJP candidate Navya Haridas received 1,09,939 votes. Priyanka outperformed her brother Rahul Gandhi by leaps and bounds, taking the lead with a margin of over 4 lakh votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi had won the seat by a margin of 3,64,422 votes.
Congress leaders had confidently predicted a victory margin of five lakh votes for Priyanka Gandhi before the polls. However, concerns arose that the lower voter turnout might reduce her margin. Despite this, Priyanka’s impressive tally of over four lakh votes reaffirmed Wayanad as a stronghold for the Congress and UDF.
After her victory in Wayanad, Priyanka said, “I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!” and thanked the people of Wayanad for “this honour” and for the “immense love” they gave her.
“My dearest sisters and brothers of Wayanad, 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,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on X.
“It’s a testament to the fact that my brother worked hard there, and to their love for him and their trust in me. So I feel it’s a great honour, and I will respect it fully,” she further said.