Last Updated: March 24, 2024, 22:16 IST
Congress has won Wayanad in the last three Lok Sabha elections by significant margins. (PTI file photos)
In its fifth list, the BJP named 111 more candidates for the upcoming seven-phase Lok Sabha elections starting April 19
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Sunday that Kerala BJP President K. Surendran will contest from the Wayanad constituency, which is currently held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In its fifth list, the BJP named 111 more candidates for the upcoming seven-phase Lok Sabha elections starting April 19. The list includes prominent names such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Arun Govil, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and others.
The Wayanad constituency in Kerala has historically been a stronghold of the Congress party, similar to Raebareli and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Congress has won Wayanad in the last three Lok Sabha elections by significant margins.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi won from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala after losing Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani. He defeated his nearest CPI candidate PP Suneer by a margin of over 4.31 lakh votes, securing a massive 64.8% of the vote share.
During that elections, the BJP had fielded Thushar Vellapally, who is also the state NDA chairman, from the same seat. However, he came in third place, receiving only about 78,000 votes.
In the previous two general elections in 2009 and 2014, Congress candidate MI Shanavas emerged victorious from Wayanad. He passed away on 2018.