The sharp decline in the voter turnout in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi made her maiden electoral contest, has cast a pall over the Congress camp, which was aiming to increase Priyanka’s victory margin to record levels.

Congress leaders are keeping their fingers crossed about the outcome, especially when they have targeted to secure a victory margin of over 5 lakh votes for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The voter turnout dropped to 64.72%, a 9.15 percentage point decrease from the previous election. This marks the lowest turnout in the constituency since its formation in 2009.

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In the 2019 election, when Rahul Gandhi contested, the constituency saw a higher turnout of 80.37% and his victory margin was 4.31 lakh votes.

The voter turnout in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll dropped by over 1 lakh electors compared to the general election held in April. Wayanad polled 9,52,543 votes in the bypoll held on Wednesday, which is 64.72 per cent of the total 14,62,423 votes.Over 5 lakh voters didn’t turn up to vote. During the parliament elections held in April, the total polled votes were 10,84,653 (73.57 per cent). Rahul Gandhi polled 6,47,445 votes.

The Congress/ UDF camp take solace in the thought that the LDF and BJP votes did not poll owing to the hopeless situation their candidates were in Wayanad.. They claim that Priyanka would pocket 6,50,000 more or less the same as Rahul Gandhi (647445) polled in the previous election. LDF would get a little above 2 lakh votes, and the BJP would get around 1 lakh votes, they claim.

However, the Congress camp is worried over the lull in the Muslim belts of Nilambur and Wandoor and also in the Christian belts of Sulthan Bathery. The LDF poll managers said that the low voter turnout reflects voters’ protest against the Rahul Gandhi’s, whose resignation was the sole reason for the bypoll.

Political observers say that the massive turnout of crowd during the campaigns of Priyanka in the constituency is not reflected in the polling.

The low voter turn indicates that the high-decibel campaign featuring national political stalwarts failed to buoy up voters in the high-profile Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is seeking mandate, that went to a by-election along with Chelakkara assembly constituency in the state on Wednesday.

Laxity on the part of the voters over a predictable outcome in the clash between unequal rivals might have been the main reason for the sharp fall in voting percentage, a section of political observers feel. Another section of observers say that the situation was the same in the 2019 and 2024 general elections, yet, voters enthusiastically turned up and cast their votes.

The steep fall in polling percentage came at a time Congress, which appears to have no concerns about poll outcome, has been campaigning for a majority of 5 lakh votes for Priyanka.To ensure the margin, AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Deepa Dasmunsi had camped in the constituency and accompanied Priyanka during her corner meetings in the constituency.

The Congress had also entrusted assembly segments under the Lok Sabha with MLAs.Besides, KPCC office bearers had been overseeing panchayat-level campaigning. Priyanka also toured to all panchayats to ensure grassroots level campaign.

Opposition Leader VD. Satheesan expressed confidence that the reduced voter turnout in Wayanad will not affect Priyanka’s majority. He asserted that the UDF would secure a larger margin than in 2019 when Rahul Gandhi contested the election. Satheesan also said that polling percentages in UDF strongholds remained steady, while a decline might have occurred in BJP and LDF-dominated areas.

LDF candidate Sathyan Mokeri criticized Rahul Gandhi for not effectively addressing Wayanad’s issues, expressing strong confidence in his victory. He questioned Rahul Gandhi’s contributions to Wayanad over the past five years. BJP candidate Navya Haridas stated that the decline in voter turnout in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency primarily affected the Congress-led UDF.

She attributed this to voter reluctance, claiming Rahul Gandhi imposed the election. Navya expressed confidence that the NDA’s vote share would increase.

The BJP leaders say that the waqf land issue in Munambam and Thalappuzha has brought the Christian votes closer to them . BJP candidate Navya Haridas said that she is hopeful of getting Christian votes as the central government has promised to protect those affected with the Waqf board’s claim over their lands.