WAYANAD LS Poll: NDA Candidate THUSHAR Vellappally Will Take On Rahul Gandhi

THUSHAR  Vellappally, President  of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, will be  pitted against  AICC President  Rahul Gandhi  as   the  NDA’s candidate  in Kerala’s  Wayanad Lok Sabha  Constituency close to the state’s borders with Tamil Nadu and  Karnataka .It is  majorly  minority   inhabited  constituency in North Kerala . Wayanad is considered a Congress bastion since it has been constituted in 2009 as a separate Lok Sabha Constituency. MI Shahnawaz as Congress candidate had won the seat in the first Lok Sabha election by over 1.5 lakh votes and retained the seat in 2014, but with a much lesser margin of over 20,000 votes. Four of the seven Assembly segments were won by the LDF in the 2016 Assembly elections. The Congress had said on Sunday that Gandhi will contest from the Kerala seat, considered a bastion for the party, besides his family pocket borough of Amethi.”I proudly announce Shri Thushar Vellappally, president of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, as NDA candidate from Wayanad. A vibrant and dynamic youth leader, he represents our commitment towards development and social justice. With him, the NDA will emerge as Kerala’s political alternative,”  BJP  President  Amit  Shah announced  on Twitter  on  Monday Thushar Vellappally is the son of Vellappally Natesan, who is the general secretary of the influential Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam  which works for the welfare of  Ezhava community, a backward caste with sizeable population in the state. Amit Shah would kick off his election campaign in the state on April 9. Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), representing the Ezhava community, headed by Tushar Vellappally, Kerala Congress led by former Union minister P. C. Thomas, JSS faction led by former MLA Rajan Babu, Kerala Vikas Party, and Lok Janshakti Party are other NDA constituents in Kerala. Union  Health  & Family Affairs Minister Jagat  Prakash  Nadda  had  a meeting  with  Thushar  and other like minded  leaders  in Thiruvanthapuram recently  on the political  scenario  and later visited Amal Krishna, RSS’ Taluk Pracharak who is convalescing at a private hospital after CPI(M)  workers allegedly  attacked him at Kattaikonam.Nadda  is BJP’s  in-charge  for  Kerala affairs  .