Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and LDF candidate Annie Raja of the CPI submitted their nomination papers from the Wayanad Parliamentary constituency in Kerala today. Both arrived at the District Collectorate to file their nomination papers accompanied by a large number of their supporters.

Akashwani Correspondent reports that Thousands of UDF supporters lined up the streets of Kalpetta town to have a glimpse of their leader, Rahul Gandhi, whose preoccupations elsewhere in the country have kept him mostly away from the constituency. Rahul is seeking re-election from   Wayanad for the second consecutive term, where voters gave him a thumping majority of over 4 lakh 31,000 votes, in the 2019 general elections. Mr Gandhi, who held a road show in Kalpetta town as he arrived to file his papers, was accompanied by party General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and other UDF leaders. Tomorrow, the NDA candidate and the State BJP President K Surendran who is also contesting from Wayanad, will file his nomination papers. With the increasing instances of human-animal conflicts, agrarian distress, and issues like inadequate medical facilities in the region hogging the limelight,   Wayanad will be one of the most keenly watched electoral battles in the country.  The contest has also thrown up an interesting duel between candidates of the Congress and the CPI, both part of the  I.N.D.I  Alliance,  formed by the Opposition.”