The Communist Party of India (CPI) announced on Thursday that senior leader Sathyan Mokeri will be the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, where he will fight Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
The constituency will go to the elections on November 13, after the necessity for a by-election after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was elected in both Wayanad and Raebareli, decided to keep the latter. The party has selected his sister, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to run for the seat, marking her electoral debut.
Mokeri, a former MLA from the nearby Nadapuram constituency (1987–2001), is considered a familiar local leader among the masses. He contested the Wayanad seat in 2014 but lost by a margin of 20,000 votes.
“I contested in Wayanad in 2014 and gave our best performance against Congress there. I lost the election by around 20,000 votes. I am approaching this election with the same enthusiasm and will give it my best,” a hopeful Mokeri said after the party announced his candidacy.
On his fight against Priyanka Gandhi, he said that even former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi lost elections.
“Hasn’t Indira Gandhi lost elections here? She has lost elections in India. There is a difference between Indira Gandhi and Priyanka. Hasn’t Rahul Gandhi lost elections? He lost and then came to Wayanad. Even leader Karunakaran has lost elections here. So Priyanka can also lose,” he said.
Binoy Viswam, CPI’s state secretary, who announced the candidate, said Mokeri is a Kisan leader actively involved in the farmers’ movement both in the state and across the country.
“We know Priyanka Gandhi is opposing us from the UDF, but we don’t believe that will weaken us in this political battle. Indian democracy has a history of prominent leaders losing elections,” Viswam said.
The BJP is yet to announce its candidate for Wayanad.
In the general elections, Rahul Gandhi won the seat, securing around 59 per cent of the vote, against CPI’s Annie Raja, who polled 26 per cent. BJP state president K Surendran came third with 13 per cent in this traditionally Congress stronghold.
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Source: India Today
