Despite trailing behind Smriti Irani in his home bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is on his way to a record win in Kerala's Wayanad. Rahul is on track to win from the Congress bastion by recording the highest ever margin of 4,02,692 votes against his nearest rival CPI's P.P. Suneer.
The previous record for the highest ever margin was held by IUML's E. Ahamed from Malappuram parliamentary constituency during 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He had won against CPI(M)'s P.K.Sainaba by a margin of 1.94 lakh votes.
On polling day, Wayanad had witnessed record turnout at 82.48 per cent, trailing behind Kannur and Vadakara that saw 83.05 per cent and 82.48 per cent polling, respectively. The high voter turnout had indicated that Rahul Gandhi would be victorious in the constituency. Wayanad was won by M.I. Shanavas of the Congress in the 2009 and 2014.
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Local leaders assembled at the DCC office and burst crackers in anticipation of the big win and shouted slogans congratulating the congress chief. However, there was a palpable sense of disappointment with the Congress-led UPA's poor show in other States with senior leaders trailing according to the latest trends.
This time, Kerala has voted in favour of the Congress with the party-backed UDF sweeping 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Left front is leading in Alappuzha, the sole consolation for the ruling party in Kerala.
However, in Amethi, Smriti Irani is leading by 19,697 votes.