Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election passed off peacefully, but the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 64.72 per cent, which was the lowest-ever turnout since its formation in 2009.

The by-election in Wayanad was necessitated after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi vacated the Kerala turf and retained the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. Congress fielded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her electoral debut.

Wayanad had recorded 72.92 per cent of polling in the general election held earlier this year against 80.33 per cent in 2019 when Rahul Gandhi had fought from the seat for the first time, Indian Express reported.

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Priyanka Gandhi was pitted against senior CPI’s Sathyan Mokeri and BJP’s young face Navya Haridas.

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had led the campaign for Priyanka in Wayanad.

Bypolls were also held in the Chelakkara assembly seat in Thrissur, where the voter turnout (72.54 per cent) was much higher than in Wayanad.