Lok Sabha elections 2024: ‘Wayanad won’t accept if Rahul Gandhi doesn’t walk his talk’

Thousands gathered to participate in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s road show

With less than 48 hours left for Kerala to go for elections, all public campaigns and road shows concluded on Wednesday evening, as per the model code of conduct. Both BJP and Congress conducted a road show and addressed large crowd gatherings in Wayanad.

On Wednesday, K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP chief, crossed the state border and came in support of BJP candidate K Surendran contesting from Wayanad constituency, and could garnish a crowd of over a thousand supporters to participate in the roadshow.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited three constituencies in Wayanad, from where her brother Rahul, is contesting the elections. Rahul could not attend the last league of the election campaign, as he is recuperating from a throat infection.

Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K Annamali held a roadshow in support of K Surendra of BJP

Huge crowd in attendance

Sandeep G Varier, a BJP party worker and supporter of Surendran, said, "We received overwhelming support from the public, who turned out in large numbers to cast their support to both Annamalai and K Surendran, during the roadshow. Over a thousand plus supporters including men, women, and musical bands, wearing saffron, holding the BJP candidate and Modi's placards, shouted slogans in support of BJP."

Priyanka in Wayanad

A massive crowd gathered in support of Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi's elder sister, Priyanka. Samshad Marakkar, former youth congress president, said, "We received an overwhelming response from the public, who gathered in large numbers, and Priyankaji could address the crowd, from her vehicle, itself, which was translated in Malayalam by our member, Jyothi Vijaykumar."

Large public turnout for Anamalai road show in support of BJP candidate K Surendran

When asked about his reaction to BJP's Annamalai road show in Wayanad, on the same day, Samshad said, "There are some Tamil communities in the Mananthavady constituency and as Tamil Nadu is a border state to Wayanad, surely his presence would lure the Tamil speaking communities, residing here in Wayanad."

Jyothi, a freelancer started translating for Rahul Gandhi in 2011, and today for Priyanka, she has done three translations.

When asked if today's speeches were scripted, she replied in the negative, stating today's speeches were impromptu, and given in English, and I translated the same in Malayalam to the crowd. The initial two speeches lasted for over 30 minutes, including the translation, and the third one was shorter."

Wayanad locals are confident that Rahul Gandhi may win the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, for the second consecutive time, however, his margin from last year may come down. Locals say that while they can connect to Rahul Gandhi, they have never heard of Annie Raja before.

Rahul needs to walk his talk

AK Prasad, a local resident, pointed out that they never heard about Annie Raja, a CPI candidate. They also have a word of caution to Rahul Gandhi, who looks upon Wayanad as his easy entry point to Lok Sabha, which the people of Wayanad won't accept if he doesn't walk his talk.

"It is unfortunate, that Rahul Gandhi has not delivered his promises made to Wayanad during the 2019 elections. He first stated that he was a prime minister candidate, and people turned out in large numbers and voted for him. Later, he turned out to be a visiting professor to Wayanad, who would seldom visit the constituency and address raised concerning issues. These issues include the night travel ban from Karnataka. This issue affected the economic health of the Wayanad constituency. It affects traders, and small-scale industries as they are unable to bring materials, and much-needed products here.

Votes are unpredictable

"Everyone joining a particular political party road show or gathering, need not convert the crowd into votes, this is basic, which unfortunately, comes to light only once the election results are declared," said Jose, a local resident. "Many a time, locals are compelled to be with a particular political party, as they are obliged to do so, but their physical presence for a party event or function doesn't mean that they would cast their vote, for that party. And there is no way that the party or their cadre can make out who voted or against them, in the election," Jose added.

When asked about the reference to context, Jose said, "We can still connect to Rahul Gandhi, as we have been learning and hearing about the Gandhi family since our childhood, but Annie Raja was never seen in our constituency. And BJP ideology, may not be agreeable to the minority communities, leaving no scope, but to go with Congress. However, the people of Wayanad cannot be fooled every time, they have issues, which need to be sorted out."