On Thursday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala for 2019 General elections. This is the second Lok Sabha seat Rahul Gandhi will be fighting from after Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. He landed there by a helicopter this morning, along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and headed to the district collectorate office in Kalpetta.

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A massive crowd of Congress workers and supporters carrying party flags greeted the brother-sister duo as they started their roadshow to mark the beginning of Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad campaign. Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior Congress leaders including K C Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik. A marching band was also part of the procession. Heavy security was in place in and around the collectorate ahead of the high-profile visit of the Congress chief.

The Congress announced last weekend that its chief would contest from the hilly Kerala district in addition to the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh that has voted him to parliament since 2004, his first election. Congress believes that “nothing will work against Rahul Gandhi” in Wayanad. Claiming that people in South India “feel hostility” from Modi, Rahul said the Wayanad ticket is a way to send out a message that “Congress stands with you. I stand with you.”

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