Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has marked her debut in Lok Sabha by winning the Wayanad bypolls with a huge margin of over 4 lakh votes. However, in the bypolls held for the Nanded constituency in Maharashtra, the Congress lost the seat to BJP.
At Wayanad, of the total 9,57,571 votes polled in the by-election (including postal votes), Priyanka gained 6,22,338 votes and won with a margin of 4,10,931votes against Communist Party of India candidate Sathyan Mokeri, who finished as distant second. Mokeri polled 2,11,407 votes in the polls. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Navya Haridas gained 1,09,939 votes.
The Wayanad bypolls were necessitated after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat following his win from two seats in the recently held Lok Sabha polls – Wayanad and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka thanked voters and party workers for their support in the election and said, “I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!”
In a post on X, Priyanka said she is overwhelmed by the trust voters have placed on her. “Thank you for giving me this honour and even more for the immense love you have given me,” she said. Priyanka thanked her family for their support.
Tweeting about Wayanad bypolls results, Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X, “I feel immense pride as my family in Wayanad has placed its trust in Priyanka. I know she will lead with courage, compassion, and unwavering dedication to transform our cherished Wayanad into a beacon of progress and prosperity.”
In Nanded bypolls, Congress lost the seat to BJP’s Dr Santukrao Marotrao Hambarde, who won by a small margin of 657 votes. The Nanded bypolls was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan on August 26. Congress's loss in Nanded has brought down the party’s tally in Lok Sabha to 98.