Wayanad: Rahul Gandhi’s office in Kalpetta, Wayanad, is locked up. The police officers stationed outside don’t know when it’ll be opened, and workers at the local District Congress Committee wonder what use it would be to keep theoffice open when Gandhi has been disqualified from Parliament.
Earlier this week, Gandhi had written a personal letter to every family in Wayanad and addressed a crowd right opposite the party’s local office. It was his first visit to his former parliamentary constituency after the disqualification. And Wayanad returned the love, but with a wary eye on what lies ahead.
Rahul Gandhi calls Wayanad his family. He wants to tell them he is local. In his speech, he spoke about transportation problems, closing of the buffer zone and medical infrastructure. But he is more national than local, his fight with the Adani Group is hanging over Wayanad like a heavy cloud.
Gandhi told the captivated crowd that he would continue to represent them and take up their issues, even if he wasn’t their MP. The address was the culmination of his joint roadshow with Priyanka Gandhi that began at a helipad just a kilometre away.
An estimated 20,000 people returned his love, cheering whenever he said they were his family, or that he would refuse to be intimidated by the central government. They carried placards declaring their allegiance to him or offering their home to him. After his speech, many attendees were emotional — one person described Rahul Gandhi as her hero, her saviour.
Tidal wave of love
The Adani-Lok Sabha disqualification had elicited party workers’ protests in the district — but the anger was over Gandhi’s disqualification, rather than directed at Adani. The Adani issue doesn’t hold much water here in the hills of Wayanad, but the tidal wave of love for the Gandhis isn’t ebbing.
The wound of his disqualification cuts deep. In his interrupted term, Rahul Gandhi seems to have left an impact as a political heavyweight who can help the district develop. One local Congress worker told ThePrint that Gandhi’s high profile has been a blessing to the district because the people finally feel like their issues have a voice.
And as Priyanka Gandhi told the crowds, the people of Wayanad have become his voice too. “Rahul is our leader! We support him. It’s clear that the government is after him. Why else would they take away his seat?” asked Usman, a retired soldier. He attended the roadshow and rally in the glaring heat while fasting for Ramzan. He added that more people would have attended the rally if it wasn’t for the festival.
The biggest anxiety for the people of Wayanad is what comes next. They have no choice but to wait and hope that their erstwhile MP continues to push for the district’s development in whatever way he can.
As the whispers of who could replace him grow louder, one name rings the loudest — Priyanka Gandhi.
But there’s no clarity among local Congress workers on what to do. A question mark hangs over the district. The future of the projects Gandhi’s office had committed to is uncertain, and completed projects wait to be inaugurated.
There’s only one thing that’s clear—the people of Wayanad say that their MP was wronged by the BJP government and that they support him as he is “doing the right thing”.
Arrested development in Wayanad
On 15 March, ten days before Rahul Gandhi was officially disqualified from Parliament, one of his biggest contributions to Wayanad was completed: the donation of important medical equipment to a family health centre (FHC) in Noolpuzha.
The shiny plaque glitters proudly outside the health centre’s physical rehabilitation unit, listing the cost of the equipment — Rs 10 lakh — and the dates of commencement and completion. But the date of inauguration stands blank.
Dr Dahar Mohammed, who heads the FHC, shrugs and laughs. “Of course we wanted him to inaugurate this unit. We have not thought about who to invite instead. Maybe Sonia Gandhi?” he asks.
Rahul Gandhi has visited the tiny but extraordinarily well-equipped FHC twice, once to enquire about what they needed and then to inaugurate their new dental unit. The first allotment of funds that he made after being elected MP was to procure a four-wheel drive jeep—so that the Noolpuzha FHC team could conduct medical camps in remote areas.
The closest city to Wayanad is Kozhikode, a three-hour drive — so medical infrastructure in Wayanad was a priority.The Rs 10 lakh allotment to the Noolpuzha FHC came from Gandhi’s MPLADS funds and bought a rehabilitation treadmill and a robotic rehabilitation device to help patients with disabilities. It’s the first equipment of its kind in Kerala.
Wayanad is the poorest and one of the least populous districts in the state. Nestled in the Western Ghats, it’s the only district that borders both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — but is heavily forested and remote. It’s also home to most of Kerala’s tribal population. While the district has a predominantly Hindu population (49.48 per cent), the Lok Sabha seat of Wayanad, which includes localities from Kozhikode and Malappuram, is predominantly Muslim.
While campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Amit Shah took a dig at the constituency people by saying it is “difficult to make out whether it [Wayanad] is India or Pakistan”.
“Rahul Gandhi listened to us unlike other politicians,” said Dr Mohammed. “He asked us what our requests were — that’s a good positive response from a politician. He seems interested in tribal welfare, and we function as a primary healthcare centre for mostly tribal populations who have never accessed quality healthcare before.”
Gandhi’s work for the constituency during the pandemic made people see that he is invested in the welfare of Wayanad.
But Dr Mohammed also pointed out that the bulk of the tribal population isn’t completely aware of Rahul Gandhi’s contributions to their welfare. The fact that he doesn’t speak Malayalam and hasn’t done much publicity around his contributions is a drawback to his popularity. His loudest support comes from Wayanad’s limited urban pockets — towns like Kalpetta and Sulthan Bathery.
“Yes, people know him, especially because he has done things like donate medical supplies and [provide] homes for orphan girls,” said K Vasu, a leader from the Chetti community — an Adivasi group that is indigenous to Wayanad. “There’s definitely support, especially when politicians help people.”
“Who else will we give support to now? Priyanka? Definitely,” added Vasu.
Support for Priyanka Gandhi
The fact that Priyanka Gandhi accompanied her brother on this visit to his former constituency has excited a lot of people: many take it as a sign that she could represent them instead. And by the sound of it, she would win.
“If Priyanka contests from Wayanad, she’ll get 7 lakh votes easily. Any other UDF (United Democratic Front) person might get around 4 lakh votes,” said Kalpetta resident Shaheer, who attended the rally and roadshow. Rahul Gandhi won in a landslide by polling more than 7 lakh votes — about 65% of the total votes polled — and 4.3 lakh more votes than the runner-up, PP Suneer of Communist Party of India (CPI).
When Priyanka Gandhi spoke, the loudest cheers came when she talked about how important Wayanad is to her brother. “I said [to Rahul] I’m not very good at making speeches in English,” she told the crowd as Congress MLA Shafi Parambil translated her speech to Malayalam. “He said ‘Don’t worry, speaking in Wayanad is the easiest. All you have to do is talk to them as your family because they are your family.’ So here I am, talking to my family, my brother’s family.”
The other thing that drew applause from the audience — during both leaders’ speeches — were mentions of their vision for India. “This is a fight of two visions of India,” said Rahul Gandhi. “The BJP represents one vision of India, and we represent another. And we are not scared of intimidation, aggression, nastiness,” he added to huge applause.
Both mentioned Adani in their speeches but it didn’t draw as much of a reaction. For Wayanad residents, he is only relevant as the root cause for Gandhi’s disqualification as MP.
Love letters and goodbye messages
Kalpetta was decked up for Gandhi’s visit — but the anxiety in the air was palpable.
The day before his arrival, Congress workers distributed a letter to every household from Gandhi addressing the people of Wayanad, along with a card wishing them for Easter and Vishu.
T. Siddique, Congress MLA from Kalpetta and one of the three working presidents of the party’s state unit, told ThePrint they handed over the letters during house visits. Dated 2 April 2023, the letter reminds people of how proud Rahul Gandhi is to represent them and lists the times he has supported the district — especially during the 2019 floods and the pandemic. It then goes on to implore the people to fight the “tyrannical regime” of the BJP and RSS as they “try to shake the foundations of democracy in an organised manner.”
“Keep your head up and continue to fight,” the letter ends. “The last victory will be ours.”
One Congress worker remarked that there was a note of sadness to the roadshow and rally, saying that it “feels like a farewell”. One banner, stretched high across the road, thanked Rahul Gandhi, specifically for his “interference in bringing UGC NET and NEET examination centre in Wayanad” — almost like the town was trying to make up for lost time and thank its former MP for his various contributions.
The morning after the rally, all the hoardings and decorations along the 1km stretch between the helipad and Gandhi’s local office had been taken down. Gandhi’s local office, sandwiched between a juice shop and a diagnostics centre in a new building, stood locked and empty. Only two workers were present. The stage for the rally, set against the picturesque backdrop of the Western Ghats, had been dismantled. The town was already preparing for the next political event — an SFI rally.
Aneesh, a local businessman in Kalpetta, has no doubts about support for Gandhi, even though he has been largely physically absent from his constituency. He said that they know he is fighting bigger battles at the national level.
“Wayanad stands behind their leader,” Aneesh said. “Rahul Gandhi has the support of the people.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)