Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday officially submitted his nomination papers for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the forthcoming general elections.

Thousands of people, including leaders and workers of the United Democratic Front (UDF), gathered on in Kalpetta to welcome the incumbent MP Rahul Gandhi as he arrived in Wayanad to file his nomination papers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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Rahul, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi, arrived at around 10:45 a.m. via helicopter from Kannur. They were warmly greeted by hundreds of party workers and supporters at the helipad in Muppainad village.

Subsequently, he proceeded by road to the new bus stand at Kalpetta, where his roadshow commenced at 11.30 am

Hundreds of UDF workers lined the route of the roadshow, while people of all ages displayed party flags, placards with Rahul Gandhi’s photograph, and balloons in party colors, eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Riding atop an open truck, Rahul, flanked by Priyanka and senior party leaders from Kerala, led the roadshow towards the Civil Station locality.

Throughout the journey, Rahul waved to the throngs of supporters on both sides of the road, who enthusiastically chanted ‘jai jai Rahul Gandhi’ and ‘down down Narendra Modi’. Hundreds of party workers and supporters accompanied the vehicle, walking ahead, alongside, and behind.

In addition to Priyanka, Rahul was joined by AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal and Deepa Das, AICC in-charge of the National Students’ Union of India Kanhaiya Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, and KPCC acting president M M Hassan.

Rahul will be contesting against BJP state president K Surendran and CPI leader Annie Raja from the Wayanad LS constituency. He had secured a massive victory from the same seat in 2019, with a margin of over four lakh votes.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi won with 7,06,367 votes out of a total of 10,92,197, while his closest rival, CPI’s P P Suneer, received only 2,74,597 votes.

The electoral process for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will take place in seven phases, beginning on April 19. Voting in Kerala for the Lok Sabha polls is scheduled for April 26.