Wayanad LS bypoll: Priyanka Gandhi secures lead by over one lakh votes

Wayanad: Congress-led UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday extended her lead by over one lakh votes after two hours of counting of the ballots in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll in Kerala, according to the Election Commission.

According to EC figures at around 10.20 am, Priyanka received 1,65,487 votes with LDF's Sathyan Mokeri at second with 56,929 and BJP's Navya Haridas third with 31,018 votes.

The counting of votes commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first.

The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.

The bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was held on November 13.

Of the 16 candidates who contested, the main contenders are Priyanka, who is making her electoral debut, CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, a political veteran, and BJP-headed NDA's Navya Haridas.