Polling begins in Wayanad for Priyanka Gandhi's electoral debut

Voting got underway in Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency on Wednesday morning, a political event that will mark the electoral debut of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi after he decided to keep the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency.

Priyanka will contest against LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, NDA's Navya Haridas and 13 others in the constituency. The UDF expects the Byelections to be a cakewalk for her and the party as the seat is a Congress stronghold. The only focus will be to widen the victory margin Rahul Gandhi, achieved in the last two elections. In the 2024 Parliament elections, Rahul's victory margin was over 3.5 lakh votes while in 2019, it was over 4.3 lakh votes.

Priyanka took to X on Wednesday morning to urge voters to head to the polling booths. "My dearest sisters and brothers, please vote today, it’s your day, a day for you to make your choice and exercise the greatest power our constitution has given you. Let’s build a better future together," she posted.

Bypolls

Besides Wayanad, byelections will also be held in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLA quit the seats to contest in the Parliament elections.

Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.

Though polling was also scheduled for two seats in Sikkim -- Soreng-Chakung and Namchi-Singhithang, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) nominees Aditya Golay and Satish Chandra Rai have already been declared unopposed after their rivals withdrew from the race.

In Rajasthan, bypolls will be held in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar and Ramgarh. In West Bengal, elections are being held in six seats, of which five were won by TMC in 2021 Assembly elections.

In Assam, five seats going to bypolls - Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon and Sidli while in Bihar, bypolls will be held in the Ramgarh, Tarari, Imamganj and Belaganj seats.

In Karnataka, JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting from Channapatna, a seat vacated by his father and Union minister H D Kumaraswamy after being elected to Lok Sabha. The BJP has fielded former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai's son, Bharath Bommai, from Shiggaon. He will face Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan.

Bypolls will also be held in Sandur in the state.

Voting will also be held in Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh. Though voting was initially scheduled on Wednesday for nine seats in Uttar Pradesh and four in Punjab, the Election Commission rescheduled it to November 20.

Jharkhand

As many as 43 seats of the total 81 Assembly seats will head to the elections on Wednesday, which will also see former chief minister Champai Soren and ex-MP Geeta Kora seek a mandate.

Also read: Jharkhand elections phase 1: BJP, INDIA bloc brace for high-stakes clash

While the JMM-led INDIA bloc is seeking to retain power, the BJP hopes to wrest power from the Hemant Soren-led coalition. The saffron party has highlighted the Centre's multiple schemes and other local issues, including infiltration and corruption by the government, to take on the JMM. The BJP is also focusing on 'Roti, Beti, Maati' and the INDIA bloc trying to capitalise on "suppression of the voice of a tribal CM".

Meanwhile, the Soren government has promised a slew of welfare measures, including 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs, a domicile policy based on 1932 as the cut-off year for land records, implementation of Sarna Dharma Code, and hiking reservations for the OBC, SC and ST communities to 27 per cent, 12 per cent, and 28 per cent respectively, to lure voters.