‘Humko bachao’: How a call for help brought victim one-on-one with Gandhis in Wayanad

Gandhi was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is set to contest from Wayanad in the upcoming bypoll. Gandhi vacated the seat after winning from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

“The police were not allowing me to go towards Rahul Gandhi. But when I spoke in Hindi, it worked. He stopped and came towards me,” said Unnikrishnan, who hails from Chooralmala, one of the two areas badly hit by the landslides.

“Not many others here know Hindi. I have worked in Saudi Arabia and Bangalore as a construction worker and know the language well,” he said.

“I told him (Gandhi) we need to be relocated to a safer place in Wayanad. I was talking not just for me but for all the villagers of Mundakkai and Chooralmala. As many as 85 people who lived near my house died. Many are missing. I told him we don’t want to return to that place,” said Unnikrishnan, 50.

“He patiently heard me and said ‘sambhaalenge (will do the needful)’. He gave me a hug and Priyanka also greeted me. This was shown on TV and I have been getting calls from a lot of friends and relatives from other places saying that they saw me talking to Rahul Gandhi.”

Later, talking to reporters, Gandhi said, “We have come here to see the situation. It is quite a painful experience to see that people lost their family members and houses. It’s very difficult to speak to people in these circumstances because you really don’t know what to say to them. We are going to try and help make sure that the survivors get what is due.”