Kerala By-Elections: Congress names Rahul Mamkootathil, Ramya Haridas

The Congress party named its candidates for the upcoming bye-elections in Kerala, hours after the Election Commission announced the poll dates for two Assembly seats and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. The bye-polls, scheduled for November 13, will see votes counted on November 23.

For the Palakkad Assembly seat, the Congress has chosen Rahul Mamkootathil, the Youth Congress President, who will make his electoral debut. Meanwhile, Ramya Haridas, a former MP who represented the Alathur Lok Sabha seat from 2019 to 2024, will contest from the Chelakkara Assembly constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). The party had already announced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.

The vacancies arose after sitting legislators Shafi Paramabil (Congress) and K. Radhakrishnan (CPI(M)) vacated their seats following their victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Wayanad seat also became available after Rahul Gandhi, who won the constituency, opted to retain his traditional family stronghold in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. This bye-election will mark Priyanka Gandhi's political debut.

The Wayanad contest is expected to draw significant attention, as Rahul Gandhi's victory margin in 2024 was substantially lower than his 2019 win, which saw him secure over 4.60 lakh votes. While Priyanka Gandhi's chances of victory seem strong, the question remains whether she will surpass her brother’s margin.

In the Assembly bye-elections, the CPI(M) will contest the Palakkad and Chelakkara seats, while the CPI has been given the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. The BJP, hopeful of a strong performance in Palakkad, is positioning itself for a triangular contest following its narrow loss in the 2021 Assembly polls, where its candidate, ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan, came within 4,000 votes of victory. At Chelakkara, the contest is expected to be a direct fight between the CPI(M) and Congress.