In Wayanad, questions & answers emerge on Rahul's absence

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Rahul Gandhi has a tummy ache. After Amethi 2019, there is no way he wants a headache in Wayanad, the constituency he represents in the Lok Sabha, where even his fanboys admit he is not visible often enough. In this green undulating expanse of coffee plantations and tea estates scalloping the mountainsides and the homes of wealthy landowners looking down upon verdant valleys, the population is predominantly Muslim and Christian. Rahul has sent sister Priyanka to campaign in his place, the day before the loudspeakers fall silent and the drums are put away.

Kambalakkadu, a small marketplace with an even smaller public maidan is where Priyanka Gandhi will make her first stump speech on the last leg of her poll tour, a half hour or so helicopter hop from Karnataka. The vast majority of the crowd that has gathered to see and hear Priyanka comprises women, mostly with hijab or burqa to protect them either from sun or the BJP's glare. They crowd shop verandahs, a shaded long gallery of a street side building upon which Congress tricolor flags and buntings flutter in the wind.

The lady is late, though. The sun is hot. The campaign platform is a purplish mobile van with an awning under which stands a tall lectern. In the background is dynasty art: brother and sister joyfully beaming at people.

"Is he going to win?" "With a larger majority, than before," says a young man.

"He will lose," declares BJP's formidable state president K Surendran who is contesting against Rahul. "How did his majority happen? It's not the Congress vote bank that is responsible for his victory last time. This is a Muslim League stronghold. Congress minus the League is a big zero."

The third candidate is Annie Raja, wife of the veteran communist D Raja. Many people in Wayanad are perplexed why she should be put up by the LDF against two formidable opponents. "She is a gentle person, and it will be humiliating when she loses," observes a passerby, who had paused to watch.

The crowd is being entertained by a local black-shirted IUML leader whose target seems to be the hapless Pinarayi Vijayan who is in hot water because of the corruption scandals raining on him and the ED expressing a keen interest in his Bangalore based daughter Veena's business against which a money laundering case has been registered.

The IUML speechmaker is tenacious; he has to keep the waiting crowd interested until the star of the show arrives. "Where is he hiding? Did he visit Wayanad when a young college boy was forced to commit suicide by RSS? Did he visit Wayanad when an elephant chased a man and trampled him to death, it was Rahul ji who helped the family."

The human-animal conflict is a major crisis in the thickly forested district where 41 people were killed by elephants and seven in tiger attacks over the last decade. In 2022-23, 8,873 people were injured and 98 died, according to the Economic Review 2022-23.

A few kilometers away, BJP's southern star K Annamalai is holding his road show in Wayanad. Annamalai, who quit the IPS to join the BJP, is trusted by Modi and the RSS to deliver Tamil Nadu to the saffron monolith. The Tamil Nadu BJP party president is in his customary white shirt, as punctual as any punctilious police officer who never keeps anyone waiting.

Though Surendran plays the local card by calling Rahul an ally of the banned terror outfit PFI, Annamalai sticks to the national strategy adopted by all parties contesting for Kerala: a war for, or against Modi; Vocal for Local is on hold for now. "We're not here to defeat Rahul Gandhi, but to save and serve this constituency," Annamalai, who is contesting from Coimbatore on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, declares.

Rahul's nemesis Smriti Irani who had visited Wayanad in early April had questioned his loyalty to the people of any constituency he represents. "Rahul Gandhi declared Wayanad as his family. What about his loyalty to Amethi?" She had trounced him in Amethi, considered a Gandhi family pocket borough until 2019, by about 55,000 votes while Rahul won in Wayanad by 4.3 lakh votes: the current UDF target is to take that number to 5 lakh.

The region has not been short of heavy hitters of all hues this election. On April 23, Mallikarjun Kharge held a road show. A senior Congressman looked uneasy when questioned why Rahul stood from Wayanad. He admitted that the Congress wasn't sure he would have won from Amethi last time, and even this time. "You say Rahul will win by a bigger margin. What has he done for Wayanad?" a local businessman is asked.

"What has he not done? He has done everything. How do you expect such an important man to come here all the time? He has people here who do what he instructs them."

Drinking water connectivity is a boiling crisis across Kerala, particularly in hill areas like Wayanad. Surendran has scored points by getting bore wells dug and pumps installed at his own cost in some tribal areas.

"There is a feeling here that Rahul has neglected Wayanad by being absent," says Surendran.

"Wayanad has a strong minority vote bank. Won't that work for Rahul?"

"The minority is not a single bloc. The Christians oppose whatever Muslims think or say. You're underestimating Muslim women, they don't reveal their true intentions."

"Is the Ram Temple a factor in Wayanad?" Of course, it is. There are a few temples here that are closely associated with Sri Ram. People here believe he passed through Wayanad's forests during his exile," Surendran says. But this time, the veneration seems reserved more for Rahul.

The dramatic arrival of Priyanka is heralded by drum beats and clouds of saffron, white, green and green confetti. Big sister is here with her brother's message. The lady herself is in a green salwar kameez and dupatta; cynics would gripe that she is playing to the Muslim gallery. She beams at the audience and waves. Priyanka has a presence, an undeniable aura as she mingles easily with the leaders and workers gathered on the stage. Her body language isn't arrogant, her face wears an unfaltering smile. She is the perfect political figure until she starts to speak. Her tone is monotonous, voice androgynous and words cliches.

The BJP realises that despite all the infirmities in Congress, the Gandhi family is still a name to reckon with.

The BJP's repetitive rhetoric that Rahul has done little for Wayanad may not be the total truth but the party certainly hopes reiteration will work in its favour. The general wisdom is that Rahul will win a second term comfortably, though the margin may be considerably narrow.