Setback for Congress in Wayanad as district general secretary joins BJP
Apr 21, 2024
Wayanad (Kerala) [India], April 21 : In yet another blow to the Congress party amid the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in the country, Wayand district committee general secretary PM Sudhakaran quit the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday.
After joining the BJP, PM Sudhakaran said that Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi was "not even accessible" to him.
"How can such a politician be accessible to the common man?," he added.
Admiring Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision for development, Sudhakaran said he wants Kerala BJP chief to emerge victorious from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
"BJP is a party that has more relevance in today's society. For the development projects of PM Modi to be implemented, K Surendran should be elected as the MP from Wayanad and I will strive towards that. If the people of Wayanad elect state president of BJP, K Surendran, the people of Wayanad are going to benefit from it," said PM Sudhakaran at a function held where a retired forest range officer Shashi Kumar and civil engineer Prajeesh joined the BJP.
All 20 constituencies of Kerala will go to the poll on April 26 in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election.
Rahul Gandhi is pitted against CPI's Annie Raja and BJP's state president, K Surendran.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad with a huge margin of over 4.31 lakh votes- the highest margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala. He secured 64.94 per cent vote share, defeating LDF candidate PP Suneer. The NDA had fielded BDJ (S) leader Tushar Vellapally, who secured just around 78,000 votes, which accounted for a mere 7.25 per cent.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While the Congress won 15 seats, its allies Indian Union Muslim League, won two seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party won one, and the Kerala Congress (M) won one seat. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won one seat in Alappuzha.
