Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will file her nomination for the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll on Wednesday, party sources said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will be present on the occasion, they said.
Ahead of her nomination filing, Priyanka Gandhi met party chief Kharge here on Monday and took his blessings. On Wednesady, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will also lead a roadshow from Kalpetta New Bus Stand at 11 AM. The nomination will be filed before the district collector at 12 noon on October 23, they said.
Priyanka Gandhi is the UDF candidate for the Wayanad parliamentary byeelection. "The Congress general secretary will officially file her nomination on Wednesday before the Returning Officer in Kalpetta," a source said.
Congress Chief Ministers, along with prominent national and state leaders, are also likely to be present to show their support, the sources said. With the Election Commission (EC) announcing the bypoll to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat last week, the stage was set for Priyanka Gandhi's electoral debut from the Kerala constituency that could see her enter Parliament five years after joining active politics. Soon after the EC announced the Wayanad bypoll, the Congress declared that Priyanka Gandhi (52) would be its candidate from the seat in Kerala.
With the Congress fielding the AICC general secretary from Wayanad, party workers had put up posters in the constituency which had "Wayanadinte Priyankari (Wayanad's beloved)" written on it.
Days after the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had announced in June itself that Rahul Gandhi will retain the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh and vacate the Wayanad seat in Kerala, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi will make her electoral debut. If elected, this will be the first time that Priyanka Gandhi will enter Parliament as an MP. This will also be the first time that the three Gandhi family members -- Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka -- will be in Parliament together.
The EC last Tuesday announced bypolls to the Wayanad and Nanded Lok Sabha seats as well as in 48 Assembly constituencies. The bypoll to the Wayanad parliamentary seat and 47 Assembly seats will be held on November 13, along with the first phase of polling for the Jharkhand Assembly. The results will be announced on November 23.