Thiruvananthapuram: The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her poll debut, recorded a voter turnout of 64.72 per cent during the by-election held on Wednesday. This marked the lowest polling percentage in the constituency since its establishment in 2009.
The first general election was held in 2009 after the formation of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, with a voter turnout of 74.14 per cent. Later, in 2014, the polling was 73.25 per cent.
The by-election was held after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka’s brother, vacated the seat in Kerala while retaining his seat in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Wayanad experienced a polling figure of 72.92 per cent in the recently held general election, compared to 80.33 per cent in 2019, when Rahul contested this seat for the first time and the constituency gained national attention.
Later, Priyanka contested in the constituency, this time as a United Democratic Front (Kerala) candidate, to bring her to Parliament. Senior leaders of the UDF and national leaders of the Congress lead the campaign in Wayanad. But no result of this could be seen in the polling percentage.
Even though Congress General Secretary Priyanka contested, the polling in the Wayanad by-election held on Wednesday saw a steep decline, and 64.72 per cent of polling was recorded. There is a decrease of 8.85 per cent compared to the last general election.
In the last general election, out of 14,64,472 votes, 10,74,623 votes reached the booth. This time only 9,52,543 votes were polled out of a total of 14,71,742 votes. After counting postal votes and home votes, there will be a small increase, but there will not be a significant increase in voter turnout.
Reasons For Reduced Polling Percentage
Several Congress leaders wishing anonymity said that reluctance in voters contributed to the decline in the turnout. “The belief that the UDF would win even if they did not vote, and the disappointment over many unfulfilled promises led to lower voter turnout,” said a senior leader
He said that many economic issues, farmers' plight and lack of rehabilitation package led to “hatred for the politics of boredom”, contributing to lower voter turnout.
Another leader said that during the last Lok Sabha election, when Rahul contested from Wayanad, many voters, including those from abroad, came and voted but this time, most of the voters in Wayanad who are abroad in Gulf countries and other states did not come to vote, which caused the turnout to decrease.
“Predictions that the Congress will win this time too are considered a factor that kept voters away. The Congress campaign that this is an election to decide Priyanka's majority has also pulled the voters back,” he said.
In this election, KPCC officers oversaw panchayat-level campaigning with Priyanka visiting every panchayat to guarantee a grassroots campaign. Her campaign was led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Priyanka's mother Sonia Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy were also present. Reddy also showed up as she was submitting her nomination. However, as previously said, polling does not reflect all of these factors.
Congress Lauches Probe
Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal, meanwhile, has directed an internal investigation to find out the reasons for the poor voting turnout.
The party will investigate the causes of the poor voter participation as all leaders are worried about the decline in the polling percentage, he said but voiced confidence in Priyanka's margin of victory.
The state president of the BJP, K Surendran, mocked the UDF and the LDF for the poor voter turnout, saying that Wayanad residents were tired of both parties and had chosen not to cast ballots.
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