Kalpetta, Wayanad: Addressing a rapt audience in Kalpetta Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declared that the BJP can take away his position as a member of Parliament, but it can’t stop him from representing the people of Wayanad.
Accompanied by his sister Priyanka, Gandhi made his first visit to his erstwhile constituency since he was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP last month. The excitement was palpable — the crowds could hear Gandhi’s helicopter before they could see it, and broke out into chants greeting him. The former Congress president, in return, promised that his “disqualification will only deepen” his relationship with Wayanad.
Calling it “the biggest gift” the BJP could give him, Gandhi said that his disqualification is a sign that he is on the right path. Priyanka, who addressed the crowd before him, said that what has happened with her brother is a “symptom of how far we are down a path to dictatorship today”.
After landing at the town’s helipad — located just a kilometre away from the MP office and nestled against the Western Ghats — the Gandhis rode to the rally on top of a truck with ‘Satyamev Jayate’ emblazoned on the side. The roadshow convoy was led by the Congress’s grassroots frontal organisation, the Seva Dal, marching in white and carrying the Indian flag instead of party flags. Crowds thronged the narrow streets and chanting slogans. Somebody threw a cap to Priyanka to protect her from the afternoon sun, which she caught but didn’t wear.
The rally was held opposite Gandhi’s former office. Congress and United Democratic Front (UDF) stalwarts like K.C. Venugopal, K. Muraleedharan and Leader of Opposition in Kerala assembly V.D. Satheesan attended, along with Congress MLAs like T. Siddique and Ramesh Chennithala. Satheesan told ThePrint that the turnout was Wayanad’s reaction to the disqualification, and that they were there to support their leader.
“Like a river, people are flowing to Kalpetta,” Siddique, Congress MLA from Kalpetta and one of the three working presidents of the KPCC, told ThePrint, grinning. “This is a thrilling mood.”
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Banners, balloons and hoardings
But the crowds were not as large as expected — possibly due to Ramzan, shrugged a local Congress worker.
Hoardings and posters of the Gandhis were quickly erected a couple of hours before their arrival. Huge balloons dotted the sky with Gandhi’s face on one side and ‘Satyamev Jayate’ on the other. One banner, stretched high across the road, thanked Gandhi specifically for his “interference in bringing UGC NET and NEET examination centre in Wayanad”. People were holding placards saying “We Are With You”, and “My House For You”.
Arjun Radhakrishnan, a yoga teacher based in Thiruvananthapuram, travelled all the way to Wayanad to attend the rally. “So many people have come to see him because they recognise that what’s been done to him is wrong. He represents what it means to be Indian, and what the Congress stands for,” he said.
Fourteen-year-old Sanin Saheed told ThePrint that he was excited in equal parts to see Gandhi and his helicopter. His parents were home fasting, so he was there on their behalf. “Everyone is saying he is our family, so I think so too.”
Gandhi echoed this sentiment in his speech — he repeated several times that the people of Wayanad are like his family, as did Priyanka in her speech.
“My sister didn’t tell you but I was actually happy they took away my house. It’s not interesting for me to live in that house,” said Gandhi halfway through his speech. “How many people in Wayanad lost their house? I saw hundreds of families lose their houses in Wayanad when the floods came here. And I learned from you. Take my house, take it fifty times, I don’t care. I will continue to raise the issues of the people of Wayanad and the people of India.”
‘Feels like a farewell’
Before his speech reassured the people of Wayanad of their continuing relationship, there was plenty of anxiety over Gandhi’s future as their MP.
“There is support for Rahul, and there is support for the Congress too,” said Usman, a retired soldier living in Kalpetta, before adding that he also supports the UDF. A fan of Priyanka Gandhi, he attended the roadshow and rally while fasting for Ramzan.
The idea of Priyanka representing Wayanad in lieu of her brother has picked up some mileage. Ninnu, a thirty-year-old manager, told ThePrint that while her first ever vote was for Rahul Gandhi, she wished Priyanka would stand from Wayanad.
Ninnu added that the Gandhis’ speeches were emotional. Sneha, 20, described Rahul Gandhi’s speech as ‘adipoli’ (excellent). “He’s our hero, like our saviour. We were so sad when he was disqualified,” she said.
Local Congress workers were also feeling the anxiety. Some of them were cross-checking each others’ estimate of how many people had attended — but the general consensus was that they expected more people.
“It feels like a farewell,” murmured one worker, before turning around and shouting in Malayalam: “Rahul, we are with you!”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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