Poll party over, real challenges ahead for Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram (The Uttam Hindu): With Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday sworn in as Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, curtains have come down on the easy part in her new political journey.

It was a foregone conclusion that the Congress scion would win hands down and Priyanka Gandhi did it in style by winning with a margin of over four lakh votes.

At 11 A.M. on Thursday, Priyanka Gandhi who was dressed in a typical Kerala saree, was welcomed to the Parliament with flowers by the Congress-led UDF MPs and was the first to take oath.

Incidentally, she is the only woman MP from Kerala in the Lok Sabha and the UDF has now 18 MPs in the House, with the BJP and the CPI-M having one each.

When Priyanka Gandhi’s name was called out, it was greeted with a resounding applause and after she took oath she walked down and was seen greeting her elder brother Rahul Gandhi who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Now, after the fanfare is over, comes the real part of her political journey and the situations that she will have to handle as a MP from the hilly district.

Wayanad is facing numerous problems, such as lack of proper healthcare facilities, the raging man-animal conflict and not to mention the night traffic from Wayanad to neighbouring Karnataka and numerous other issues.

Incidentally, the biggest campaign point that the ruling Left and the BJP raised during their campaign starting from 2019 when Rahul Gandhi first stood as the Congress candidate and then again in 2024, was that Wayanad needs a full time representative in Parliament and not a tourist MP.

However, all such campaigns on expected lines failed to evoke any response from the electorate as senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi first won with a margin of 4.30 lakh votes that dipped to 3.60 lakh in April 2024 and then Priyanka Gandhi tasted electoral victory with a margin of 4.10 lakh votes.

The first task that MP Priyanka Gandhi has on her shoulders is availing the yet-to-be announced Wayanad package from the Centre.

No relief package has been announced as yet for Wayanad even after three months having passed following the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an on-the-spot assessment of the landslide disaster that washed away four villages in July and left over 400 dead and scores missing.

Meanwhile, there was a modest celebration in her constituency when she was sworn in as MP and Priyanka Gandhi will now be given a rousing welcome when she arrives in Wayanad for the first time after winning the polls.

Priyanka Gandhi had spent 14 days in Wayanad visiting every nook and corner of her constituency spread over three districts of Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode comprising seven Assembly constituencies.

After leaving the constituency on November 14, a day after the polls, she has not come back and is expected to arrive in the days to come to take on her duties as MP.Poll party over, real challenges ahead for Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi