While the candidature of All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll has enthused the rank and file of the Congress party in Kerala, the decision has apparently put the Communist Party of India (CPI), a member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a quandary over fielding strong candidates against her.
The dilemma has become more evident as the leadership of both the parties are ambiguous in their stand on whether they will nominate formidable contestants, as they did against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his re-election bid in the hill constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Unlike in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Mr. Gandhi had to face lightweight contestants, the CPI nominated its national executive member and general secretary of National Federation of Women, Annie Raja, and the BJP, its State president K. Surendran, in the just-concluded polls.
