After his huge mandate from Wayanad in the recent Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will make a three-day visit to the parliamentary constituency beginning Friday.
Mr. Gandhi won the seat by a margin of over 4.31 lakh votes, a State record, though he was defeated in the Congress bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress will go beyond the ceremonial thanksgiving to the electorate, and turn the occasion into a political show of strength in the constituency spread over Wayanad, Kozhikode, and Malappuram districts.
Eye on elections
“Of course, we do not want to just gloat over our victory in the State. The party and its coalition partners are gearing up for the elections to local bodies next year and to the Assembly in 2021,” Congress State president Mullappally Ramachandran told The Hindu on Thursday.
Mr. Ramachandran said Mr. Gandhi’s first visit after winning the Wayanad seat was an opportunity for the Congress leadership to plug loopholes in the party machinery. The All India Congress Committee had chalked out a tentative three-day schedule depending on the security measures and weather conditions.
As an alternative to roadshows, Mr. Gandhi would be accorded receptions at select places in the Wayanad constituency.
Mr. Gandhi would land at the Calicut international airport at 1.30 p.m. on Friday. The receptions would begin from 3 p.m., starting from Kalikavu and moving on to Nilambur and Areekode in Malappuram district. He would stay overnight at Kalpetta.
The next day, Mr. Gandhi would visit the MP’s facilitation centre at the Wayanad Collectorate at 9 a.m. He would be accorded receptions in Wayanad district commencing at 10 a.m. at Kalpetta, Kambalakkad, Panamaram, and Pullpally and ending at Sulthan Bathery around 5.30 p.m. On Sunday, he will visit Kozhikode. He will leave for Delhi from Kozhikode at 1 p.m.