Priyanka to file nomination on Wednesday; Sonia, Rahul to attend event

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will file the nomination for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election on Wednesday, party sources said on Monday.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is a Congress general secretary, will file her nomination before the returning officer in Kalpetta at noon. Priyanka Gandhi is the UDF candidate for the Wayanad Parliamentary by-election.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge; former Congress president and parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi; and, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be present on the occasion. Senior national and state leaders will also be present to show their support.

Ahead of her nomination filing, Priyanka Gandhi met party chief Kharge in Delhi on Monday to seek his blessings.

Before the nomination filing on Wednesday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will lead a roadshow from the Kalpetta bus stand at 11 a.m. and then go to the district collectorate to file the nomination papers.

Seat vacated by Rahul Gandhi

Priyanka Gandhi's brother and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi won the seat, along with Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. Days after the June 4 results, the Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi would retain the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency and vacate the Wayanad seat paving the way for his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to make her electoral debut.

The by-poll to the Wayanad parliamentary seat and 47 Assembly seats will be held on November 13, along with the first phase of polling for the Jharkhand Assembly. The results will be announced on November 23.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)