2019 Lok Sabha Election Results for Wayanad, Kerala: Banished from Amethi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's southern refuge pays off

The battle for Wayanad constituency is between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and LDF's P P Suneer and BJP Thushar Vellapally which as predicted has been comfortably won by Gandhi who garnered 705034 votes, the seat -which is a stronghold of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), as of 9:30 PM

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Poll campaign issues:

While the poll battle here was minimal, the main issue for this hill station was lack of basic infrastructure and tribal land disputes. Forest dwellers belonging to the Paniyas, Kurumas, Adiyars, Kurichyas and Kattunaikkans ethnic groups in Wayanad had remain oblivious to heated political discussions over the Congress chief's move to go down south, saying food, shelter and fighting elephant attacks are issues of priority for them.

The minority equation which came into play as Muslims dominate the area comprising of 49% of the population, Wayanad has worked in favour of Gandhi.

While poll campaigning was minimal, Wayanad caught the eye of the national media when they put up posters welcoming the 'young and educated Prime Minister candidate' calling him 'Rahul Bro'.

The nomination process of the Congress chief from his second Lok Sabha seat -Wayanad apart from his traditional bastion UP's Amethi had also created major enthusiasm in the state into which the saffron party has not made inroads.

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Historical trend for Wayanad:

While it is considered a safe seat for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Congress is taking no chance and had fielded its chief Rahul Gandhi to fill the vacuum created due to the death of M I Shanavas. 

In the two Lok Sabha elections witnessed by the constituency, Congress had won with a thumping majority.

In the 2014 elections, Shanavas had won over CPI’s Sathyan Mokeri by a margin of 20,870 votes, a far reduced number from 2009 when he had defeated M. Rahmathulla of the Communist Party of India (CPI) by a margin of 1,53,439 votes.

Wayanad voted in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 23.