Rahul may feel the heat for his absence at Wayanad as he prepares for Lok Sabha polls

Rahul Gandhi and his opponent, CPI national leader Annie Raja, have filed nomination papers from Wayanad, Kerala but it won't be cakewalk like it was in the 2019 LS polls.

Wayanad (Kerala): As the people of Wayanad seem openly sceptical about Congress' top leader Rahul Gandhi's chances of winning again from Wayanad in Kerala, Rahul may be feeling the belated heat for his absence from the constituency as its MP in the last five years.

"We literally had no MP over the last five years. We could not take up our pressing problems like man-animal conflict with the MP. Though an MP office was present, it was difficult to get MP's recommendation letter for various purposes," laments Cyril, a native Mepadi in Wayanad.

Auto-rickshaw driver Chandran and a lottery seller, who preferred not to be identified, too share similar views. They pinned some hopes on Annie Raja, but did not think that BJP's surprise candidate state president K Surendran would do any wonders in the Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul turned up at Wayanad on Wednesday to file nomination papers to contest for the second consecutive time from his sitting seat, hardly two hours after his opponent CPI national leader Annie Raja filed the nomination.

Workers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) gave a rousing reception to Rahul during his one hour long road show at Kalpetta town, the main centre of Wayanad. Rahul's sister Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and other senior leaders from Kerala accompanied him.

Annie, who is very well ahead in her campaign at Wayanad, is also highlighting Rahul's absence at Wayanad during the last five years. "Rahul took the people of Wayanad for granted. How many times did he use the name Wayanad in the Parliament? My assurance is that I will be very much present at Wayanad," said Annie.

BJP's surprise candidate party state president K Surendran, who will be filing nomination on Thursday, also used to quip that wild animals entered Wayanad more frequently than Rahul. He had also said that Rahul would face the same fate he faced at his once stronghold Amethi. Incidentally, union minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated Rahul at Amethi in 2019, is also scheduled to accompany Surendran.

Rahul had won with a thumping majority of 4.3 lakh votes at Wayanad in 2019. But the resentment among the people over his lack of interventions to address burning issues like the man-animal conflict casts a shadow over the chances of repeating his huge victory margin.

Lack of medical infrastructure of the high-range district, which is another pressing issue, was very much evident during the road show of Rahul and Annie as ambulances could be seen rushing with patients to the adjacent Kozhikode district quite frequently.

Issues like Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will play a key role in the Muslim dominated constituency that comprises three assembly segments of Malappuram and one of Kozhikode, apart from the three assembly segments of Wayanad.

Even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan repeatedly accused Rahul of not reacting against CAA, Rahul has not responded to the charge.