Rahul elected from Wayanad LS seat

Congress president Rahul Gandhi was Thursday declared elected from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.

Gandhi, who contested from Wayanad besides Amethi, where he conceded defeat, defeated his nearest CPI candidate P P Suneer by a margin of over 4.31 lakh votes, according to the Election Commission website.

Gandhi's winning margin was a state record.

The BJP-led NDA candidate Thushar Vellapally, who is also state NDA chairman, came a poor third, polling about 78,000 votes.

The Congress' decision to field Gandhi from the remote Wayanad constitutency came as a big surprise for the party cadres.

Gandhi conceded defeat in Amethi, a traditional bastion of his family, to BJP's Smriti Irani.

The Congress-UDF made a clean sweep of the polls in the southern state by winning 15 seats and was leading in four at 10.15 pm as per the latest trends.

There are 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.