Wayanad Bypolls: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to campaign for Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who is set to make her debut in the electoral politics from Wayanad, NDTV reported, citing sources. Gandhi will be contesting from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat when the bypolls will take place there.
With Banerjee's decision to campaign for the senior Congress leader, all her differences with the Congress seem to have been put to rest. The Trinamool Congress secured a big win in West Bengal and secured 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats.
The Adhir Chowdhury-led West Bengal Congress faced massive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The alliance with the CPIM was of no help to the five-time MP, who failed to secure his Baharampur seat, which he lost to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who made his debut in politics in the recently concluded elections.
This comes after his brother and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi decided to retain the family bastion Raebareli and vacate Wayanad seat. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the former Congress chief secured the seat for the second straight time by a margin of around 3.6 lakh votes.
Besides being willing to campaign for Priyanka Gandhi, Banerjee had also suggested during an INDIA bloc meeting last year that the leader of the grand old party should contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, NDTV reported, citing TMC sources.
Earlier this week, Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge announced that Rahul Gandhi, who was elected from both Kerala's Wayanad and UP's Raebareli in the recent Lok Sabha elections, will relinquish the former seat where Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will be fielded as the party candidate for the ensuing bypoll.