KALPETTA: The election campaigns of the UDF and LDF fronts for the by-election in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency have picked up momentum. UDF held conventions in seven assembly segments on Saturday, while LDF candidate Sathyan Mokeri kick-started his campaign with a road show in Kalpetta. Meanwhile, the NDA front is yet to announce their candidate.
UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi is set to submit her nomination papers on October 23. Wayanad parliamentary election committee convener A P Anil Kumar MLA said in a press conference that after participating in a roadshow alongside Lok Sabha Opposition Leader and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, she will submit her nomination papers to the district collector, who is the electoral officer, at the Wayanad collectorate.
The assembly constituency conventions were led by several state leaders of the UDF. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan highlighted that the by-elections, including in Wayanad, should serve as a warning to the Centre and the state government.
“Unemployment is at an all-time high in the country. Critical issues such as human-animal conflict, low agricultural product prices, and the slow progress of resettlement and rehabilitation projects in the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslide will be discussed during the election,” Satheesan said on Saturday after inaugurating the UDF’s election convention in Kalpetta. UDF’s panchayat-level conventions will be completed by Tuesday.
LDF’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency election convention will commence on October 24 in Kalpetta, followed by the assembly segment conventions in Thiruvambadi on October 25, Mananthavady, Sultan Bathery, and Nilambur on October 27, and Kalpetta, Wandoor, and Ernad on October 28.
LDF leaders have indicated that they will discuss the Union government’s denial of aid to the disaster victims and Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the issue in the by-elections, which are being held after the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster.
