As the Congress on Sunday announced that party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha Election from Kerala's Wayanad, besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, national interest in the constituency shot up almost instantly.
The Congress president, who has been representing Amethi since 2004, will be contesting from a second seat for the first time.
The announcement also gives the much needed boost to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) workers.
The North Kerala constituency, which has been in the news for a week, was represented by M I Shanavas in 2014 and 2009. He died in November last year.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded CPI candidate PP Suneer whereas the BJP has given the seat to its partner BDJS (Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). But there has been no formal announcement of BDJS candidate from the parliamentary constituency so far.
Wayanad was initially carved out of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district of Kerala.
The rural constituency comprises - Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery, Kalpetta, Thiruvambady, Ernad, Nilambur and Wandoor - assembly segments with a total voter population of 13, 25,788, of whom 6,70,0002 are females.
It also has a large mix of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community.
With inputs from agencies
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