Lok Sabha polls | Rahul Gandhi holds massive roadshow in Wayanad

Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi held a massive roadshow at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad on Monday (April 15) as part of his election campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul, who reached Nilgiris district in the bordering Tamil Nadu, interacted with students at the Arts and Science College there and travelled by road to reach Sulthan Bathery in Kerala.

At Sulthan Bathery, Rahul travelled sitting atop a car with an open roof. Hundreds of workers rallied beside him holding placards with his photo.

Fight against RSS ideology

Addressing the people, the Congress MP said, “Today, the main fight is against the ideology of the RSS.”

He also raked up the language issue, saying language cannot be imposed on the people. “The BJP people, the Prime Minister, they say one nation, one people, one language, one leader...Language is not something that is imposed from the top. Language is something that comes out from inside the person, inside the heart of the person.”

He added that the idea that India should have only one leader was an insult to Indians. “To tell a person from Kerala, that your language is inferior to Hindi, is an insult to the people of Kerala...This idea that India should have only one leader is an insult to every single young Indian person,” he said.

More rallies ahead

Rahul is scheduled to address a farmers’ rally in the nearby Pulpally, predominantly an agrarian sector which has a great presence of farmers, later in the day.

He is also expected to hold roadshows in Mananthavady, Vellamunda, and Padinjarathara and address party workers there, Congress sources said.

During the visit, Rahul is also likely to hold a meeting with the Mananthavady bishop, a politically significant move in the wake of a raging controversy over the recent screening of the movie The Kerala Story by some churches.

Later in the evening, the Congress leader will address a rally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the neighbouring Kozhikode district.

Second visit

Rahul, who is seeking his electoral luck again from Wayanad, came to the constituency for the second time after the date of the Lok Sabha polls were announced.

The Congress leader had kicked off the poll campaign in Wayanad early this month by filing his nomination papers and holding a massive road show.

Rahul won from Wayanad with a record margin of 4,31,770 votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Polling in Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats will be held on April 26.

(With agency inputs)