KALPATTA: Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency UDF candidate Rahul Gandhi has submitted nomination papers to District Collector Renuraj, who is also the district Election Officer, on Wednesday.
All India Congress Committee General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal, UDF Parliamentary Constituency Election Committee Chairman Pannakad Sayyid Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal, Wayanad District Congress Committee President ND Appachan and others were present with Gandhi during the nomination submission.
After submitting the papers, he read out the oath to uphold the Constitution which concluded the submission process.
Rahul arrived in Wayanad by helicopter in the morning and then held a roadshow from Kalpetta to Civil Station here before reaching the District Collector's office to submit his nomination.
Prior to reaching the collector's office, he addressed the public towards the end of the roadshow and said he was always with the people of Wayanad on all issues, including the human-animal conflicts which have claimed many lives in the high range district of the state.
Rahul, the sitting MP of Wayanad, also said that he was always ready to bring the issues being faced by the people of the hill constituency to the attention of the nation and the world. It was his first visit to the constituency after the conclusion of 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.'
He also said that Wayanad was his home, the people were his family and the land, with its beautiful history and traditions, his "guiding light".
"I am deeply grateful to the people of Wayanad for their unwavering support. As we step into a new era of 'Nyay', I want to reaffirm my dedication to serving each and every one of you to the best of my abilities," he said.
Thousands of workers from all the six Assembly constituencies of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency attended the roadshow that started at 11am. After concluding the roadshow near Chandragiri Auditorium in Kalpetta and addressing the party workers, Rahul Gandhi went to the Collectorate to submit the nomination by 12pm.
Rahul will be contesting against BJP state president K Surendran and CPI leader Annie Raja from the Wayanad LS constituency.
He had won from the same seat in 2019 with a massive margin of over four lakh votes.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi won after polling 7,06,367 votes out of a total of 10,92,197 with his closest rival -- CPI's P P Suneer -- receiving only 2,74,597 votes.
The LDF candidate Annie Raja also submitted the nomination at Kalpetta Collectorate on Wednesday morning. Her roadshow started at the Co-operative Bank premises and concluded at the SKMJ Higher Secondary School premises in Kalpetta.
Kuki-Zo community activist in Manipur Glady Vaiphei Hunjan, Tamil Nadu Minority Commission member Thamimun Ansari and the victims of police brutality in Sathyamangalam forests over the Veerappan hunt participated in the roadshow. LDF Parliamentary Constituency Election Committee Chairman CK Saseendran, convener and others came with Annie Raja to submit nomination papers.
Voting in Kerala for the Lok Sabha polls this year will be on April 26.
(With inputs from PTI)