As Anokhe Lal Tiwari waved the Congress flag in the crowd gathered to listen to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Pozhuthana market near Vythiri in Wayanad, it started fluttering in the wind.
The Nehru cap worn by the middle-aged man matched his white kurta-pajama and the large shawl around his neck. It was clear from his attire that he was from North India. As soon as the meeting ended, people gathered in small groups near Tiwari and surrounded Congress leader and writer Shashi Tharoor. People wanted selfies with both of them.
Tiwari, a Hindi-speaking admirer of the Gandhi family from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, obliged and went to the living room around the corner. Tiwari is among a handful of Congress supporters who are camping and campaigning in Wayanad. Wherever Tiwari goes, he comes into the public eye. He had walked with Rahul Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Kashmir as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“I will stay in Wayanad till Priyanka is elected,” he says in Hindi.
Wayanad, which was devastated by massive landslides in late July, is slowly returning towards normalcy. But now it’s in the national spotlight again for an entirely different reason. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s electoral debut in the by-election of the Lok Sabha constituency has brought it into limelight.
Political observers are drawing parallels between Wayanad, the Gandhi family’s traditional stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, and Rae Bareli, from where Indira Gandhi was first elected in 1967. “If she is elected from Wayanad, she will be in Parliament with her mother Sonia Gandhi. It is a rare occasion to have three people from the Gandhi family – the Rajya Sabha MP and his brother Rahul Gandhi, who is a member of the Lok Sabha – in Parliament at the same time,” says a party supporter.
Voting is on 13 November.
Earlier this year, in the general elections, the constituency had re-elected Rahul Gandhi, but he gave up the seat to retain the family stronghold, Rae Bareli. This move and Priyanka’s candidature from Wayanad sparked debate about the resurgence of dynastic politics.
When Wayanad elected Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha in 2019, his majority was 4.31 lakh votes. In 2024 it reduced to 3.64 lakh votes. When Rahul contested the elections for the first time in 2019, Wayanad saw an unusually high voting percentage (80.37%). The voting percentage in the constituency was recorded around 73 in 2009, 2014 and 2024. 74%.
The Congress and its supporters are excited as Priyanka attracts enthusiastic crowds at street meetings in the constituency. “I am sure she will create a record. Their majority will cross five lakh. We are actually targeting six lakh,” says Usman Parakotat, an ardent Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) supporter from Ambileri near Kalpetta, expressing confidence.
This constituency is unique as it comprises three assembly constituencies from Wayanad district (Mananthavady, Sultan Bathery and Kalpetta), three more from Malappuram district (Vandur, Nilambur and Ernad) and one assembly constituency from Kozhikode district (Thiruvambady).
To take on the Congress scion in Wayanad, veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Satyan Mokeri has warned that it will not be easy for Priyanka. Mokeri, 71, modest and reserved, has strong connections with people at the grassroots level. The man who represented Nadapuram thrice in the Kerala Assembly has a solid reason to be confident in his fight.
When he defeated Congress’s MI Shanavas in Wayanad in 2014, Mokeri had given a tough fight to the United Democratic Front (UDF). In 2014, Shanavas had reached the Lok Sabha by a slim margin of 20,870 votes. “I am more confident this time, especially because of my connection with the farmers,” says Mokeri.
Left Democratic Front candidate from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Sathyan Mokeri, is leading a rally in Puthuppadi on Sunday evening. , Photo courtesy: Sakir Hussain
However, he knows very well that Priyanka is not Shanavas. Mokeri as well as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) say the Congress is making a political mistake by fielding Priyanka in Wayanad, “when she should have been taking on the fascist forces in the north”.
Mokeri says that Congress has failed to address the major political issues as well as the major problems of Wayanad and its people. “It is still very much dependent on family and political dynasty. Wayanad wants a change,” he argues, pointing to the decline in Rahul Gandhi’s vote share in 2024. Rahul’s vote share dropped from 64.94% in 2019 to 59.69% in 2024.
“This is a sign of Rahul Gandhi’s declining popularity. He did nothing for Wayanad in the last five years. Did he raise even a single problem of Wayanad in Parliament? Now that he has left Wayanad, he is bringing his sister. We want an MP who will take up our problems,” says AK Mubaris, an LDF activist from Varadimulla near Mananthavady.
“Sathyan Mokeri has his own charisma in CPI. He is calm, straightforward and gentle. It is true that he narrowly reduced the UDF margin in 2014, but his chances against a national personality are doubtful,” says M. Abdul Nazar, educationist and manager of Goodwill English School, Pukkattumpadam in Nilambur, part of the Lok Sabha constituency. .
But Valli, a Paniya tribal woman from Muthanga in South Wayanad, expresses her support for Mokeri. “Not being a VIP is a big advantage for him, because he will be with us and he can understand our problems better than an outsider,” she insists.
Mokeri’s campaign style is not ostentatious. But he reaches every corner of Wayanad, a large part of which is covered with forest. Man-animal conflict is one of the major issues being raised by the people of Wayanad. There is also a ban on night travel in the border state of Karnataka.
“With Congress in power in Karnataka, Rahul could have easily addressed the issue of night travel ban by that state. But they did nothing,” alleges Mokeri. He says, “When the Churalamala and Mundakkai disasters struck on July 30, Wayanad lost even one MP in Parliament.”
BJP candidate Navya Haridas is campaigning for votes in Wayanad. , Photo courtesy: Sakir Hussain
According to the LDF, Wayanad’s backwardness is largely due to the absence of a dedicated MP who could focus on the development of the constituency. “None of the UDF MPs here, including Rahul Gandhi, care about Wayanad. A serious politician like Sathyan Mokeri can do this,” says Ammu Koloth, a housewife from Chaliyar.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Navya Haridas, 39, a former Kozhikode Municipal Corporation councilor, has been vocal against the Congress and the LDF. As General Secretary of Kerala State Mahila Morcha, she injects a new energy into the BJP camps in Wayanad.
The BJP has continuously increased its vote share in Wayanad since 2009. The party’s vote share increased from only 3.85% in 2009 to 8.83% in 2014 and 13% in 2024. This is BJP state president K. It was Surendran who said the party’s best performance so far was when it secured 13% votes (1.41 lakh) in 2024 against Rahul and LDF’s Annie Raja.
There is energy in Navya’s campaign. She also holds Rahul responsible for the unresolved problems of Wayanad. She highlights the dire need for better health care and agricultural support for the region. “The health facilities in Wayanad are extremely inadequate. Our only government medical college is inadequate, and farmers are struggling to protect their means of livelihood from attacks by wild animals,” she says.
BJP leader Rajiv Chandrashekhar accused Rahul of betraying the people of Wayanad. Why did he hide from the people of Wayanad that he was going to contest elections from Rae Bareli also? They betrayed them and imposed this by-election on them.” He further said that neither Rahul nor Priyanka knows anything about the problems of Wayanad.
The BJP not only targets the Congress, but it also aims its guns at both the Congress-led UDF and the LDF, in which the CPI is the second largest constituent. “They are two sides of the same coin,” is the statement. The BJP alleges that both are promoting minority communalism in Wayanad too, and hindering central funds from reaching Wayanad.
The Congress is not taking any risks and has retooled its election campaign by arranging more street meetings for Priyanka in seven assembly constituencies of the Lok Sabha constituency.
Raising several issues against both the Central and State governments, she promises to stand with the people of Wayanad and fight for them on the street and in Parliament. She criticizes the Center for politicizing the disaster that struck Wayanad on July 30 and allegedly refusing to provide assistance to the victims. She lashed out at BJP’s “politics of hatred and division”.
“Rahul started many projects in Wayanad, like smart anganwadis, school buses, efforts to set up a medical college and the welfare of plantation workers,” she says. Products and developing projects to promote tourism.
Philomena, who is in her mid-50s, had tears in her eyes when she saw Priyanka talking about her emotional bond with her two children in Pozhuthana. “I couldn’t stop crying. She has come here leaving her family. I see Indira Gandhi in her. Her looks, her dress, her hairstyle, her behavior and everything,” says Philomena, who accompanied her husband to the meeting.
There are many people like Philomena who make such comparisons. They include Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme worker Sarojini T., NRI businessman Nasruddin T.P., his relatives Sufaira and Arifa, autorickshaw driver V.K. Jamsheer, tribal Asha worker V.K. Sudha and school teacher Amin Faisal.
The Congress is hopeful that Priyanka’s candidature in Wayanad will energize party workers in the state, which will also stand it in good stead in the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly by-elections.
Known for its natural beauty, agricultural preferences and tourism potential, Wayanad faces unique challenges. “No matter who is elected, the region is in dire need of a dedicated leader who can address these challenges,” says academician Nazar.
published – November 07, 2024 07:51 PM IST
