Congress leader Rahul Gandhi began his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala, with a visit to the Gandhi Park, where he unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and recalled his teachings. Hitherto, on most occasions, the entire top brass of the Congress leaders in the state would be present to receive Rahul on his visits to Kerala, but on Monday, August 16, it was just the Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and Kozhikode Member of Parliament MK Raghavan who were present.
"When we look at this statue, we do not just remember Mahatma Gandhiji, we also remember his action and the way he lived his life," Rahul Gandhi told a gathering after unveiling the Gandhi statue at Mananthavady, sculptured by KKR Vengara. Referring to Gandhi's teachings, he said the powerful thing about Mahatma Gandhi was that he put into action whatever he said. "If he said India should be a tolerant country, he behaved in a tolerant way. If he said India should treat women with respect, he treated women with respect. If he said India should be a secular country, he himself behaved in a secular manner," the former Congress president said.
Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in Kozhikode Monday morning, had lunch with students from the tribal community who cracked the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). "Such bright young people... their hopes and aspirations must be protected at all costs. We, as a nation, owe this to them," he wrote on his Facebook page. He also shared the photographs of his lunch with them He noted that most of them are from the particularly vulnerable Kattunayakan tribal group and said, "I hope that they go on to hold the highest judicial offices in our country."
He was also given an adorable welcome by a little girl who greeted him while he was getting on a car.
The absence of other Congress veterans might be attributed to the present impasse in the party, which began last week. In finalising the list of District Congress Committee (DCC) chiefs and to reconstitute the party's apex organisational body, veterans like Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, Mullappally Ramachandran, and VM Sudheeran were reportedly sidelined. The selection was done by VD Satheesan and state party president K Sudhakaran in consultation with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal.
All those leaders who were sidestepped, according to sources, have expressed their displeasure to AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
A media critic, on condition of anonymity, said that in the Congress party in Kerala, what one has seen is that no leader has been able to be the last and final word in the party forever. "Look at K Karunakaran. He was the most powerful leader in the party and was the last word, but since the turn of the present century, Chandy and Chennithala took over and after the April 6 drubbing at the Assembly elections, they lost their grip as their close aides have started moving towards where the power is centered and presently it's Satheesan, Sudhakaran and not to mention Venugopal. So all that you see is nothing new," said the critic.
Chandy, Chennithala, Satheesan, and Sudhakaran all were in Delhi in the recent past as part of finalising the office bearers and sources in the know of things revealed that both Chandy and Chennithala expressed their displeasure to Sonia Gandhi in a letter about the manner in which things are churning out.
However, Satheesan told the media on Monday that he is not aware of any leader from Kerala expressing any sort of displeasure. "I am not aware of such things. There was a time schedule and we were asked to do our part and we did it and submitted it before August 15," said Satheesan.
(With agency inputs)