CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri to contest against Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 17 (ANI): The Communist Party of India (CPI) has decided to field Sathyan Mokeri against Congress candidate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the upcoming Wayanad Lok Sabha bypolls, party state Secretary Binoy Viswam said on Thursday.
Sathyan Mokeri contested the Wayanad Loksabha election in 2014.
Congress on Tuesday announced that party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the bypoll in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
The seat was vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he was also elected to Lok Sabha from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh in the general elections held earlier this year.
A party press release said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad.
The party also announced two candidates for assembly bypolls in Kerala.
Rahul Gandhi won the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in 2019. In this year's Lok Sabha polls, he won from Wayanad and Raebareli. He is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Wayanad will go to the polls on November 13 along with voting for bye-elections in 47 assembly seats across 15 states. The first phase of assembly polls in Jharkhand will also be held on November 13.
If Priyanka Gandhi wins Lok Sabha polls, she will be the third MP from the Gandhi family in the current Parliament. Sonia Gandhi is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Priyanka Gandhi had taken care of the family strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli before plunging into active politics. She has continued her links with the two constituencies.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had expressed confidence of Priyanka Gandhi winning from Wayanad.
"Priyanka Gandhi is going to fight the elections and I am confident that she is going to win the elections. The people of Wayanad can think that they have two members of the Parliament, one is my sister and the other is me. My doors are always open for the people of Wayanad, I love every single person in Wayanad," he said.
The results for the Wayanad seat, along with other assembly and Lok Sabha seats, will be declared on November 23. (ANI)