‘Promised brother my work will deepen this bond’: Priyanka Gandhi in open letter to people of Wayanad ahead of bypoll

Priyanka lauded the “brave spirit” of the people in the district, in reference to the relief activities after tragic  landslides killed at least 276 people and resulted in widespread destruction in July this year. “You rallied together with a strength I have not seen before. Doctors, public representatives, volunteers, social workers, teachers, nurses, housewives, everyone was doing whatever they possibly could to help one another… Your brave spirit deeply touched me,” she wrote. The relief measures is one of the key themes in the run-up to the polls as both Congress and LDF are critical of the reluctance of the BJP-led Centre to declare a package for the affected villages.

The Wayanad bypoll was necessitated after Rahul Gandhi vacated it to retain his Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh as he won from both seats in the April 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Read her full letter here:

“My Dear Sisters and Brothers of Wayanad,

A few months back, I travelled to Chooramala and Mundakkai with my brother. I saw the devastation wrought by the landslide and the depth of the loss you suffered. I met children who had lost everyone they loved, mothers who were grieving for their children and families whose entire lives had been washed away by the rage of nature. Yet, through the darkness of the tragedy that befell you, what shone through to me was your immense courage and fortitude as a community. You rallied together with a strength I have not seen before. Doctors, public representatives, volunteers, social workers, teachers, nurses, housewives, everyone was doing whatever they possibly could to help one another. No one was tearing into the other with blame or anger. No one was resorting to pettiness or greed. Even in the helplessness of an overwhelming tragedy, you were cooperating, comforting one another and rising to the highest standards of humanity. Your brave spirit deeply touched me.

As I was returning home, I felt that it would be an honour to represent you in parliament. It would be an honour to learn from you, to understand your lives and the challenges you face and to become part of this courageous community that knows how to respect each other and stand tall even in the most trying times.

You have given my brother your love, and I know he reciprocates it fully. When he asked me to be the Congress candidate for Wayanad, he did it with a mixture of pride and sadness in his heart. Pride in your values, in your culture and in your genuinely deep bond with him and sadness for having to leave you. I promised him that my work here will serve to deepen this bond and that I will do all I can to fight for you and represent you in the way that you wish to be represented in Parliament. He also explained your struggles to me in detail and briefed me about the many issues that need attention and resolution in Wayanad. He was especially concerned about the difficulties faced by the farming and tribal communities. I hope to work closely with you to face these challenges.

Together we can work towards building upon your capabilities and creating new opportunities to strengthen your future. My sisters are most important to me, I feel deeply for the need to create opportunities for women and for their freedom to live their lives on their own terms. Wayanad is gifted with great natural beauty and uncountable resources. I believe that protecting them and celebrating your culture of respect for the environment ought to be central to development here. I truly look forward to hearing from you, to meeting as many of you as I possibly can and to listening to your views on how we can work together in the way that benefits you most.

You will be my guides and teachers in this journey which (I hope) will be my first as a public representative but not my first as a public fighter! Fighting for democracy, for justice and for the values enshrined in our constitution is central to my life. I look forward to carrying this battle for all our futures forward with your support and will be deeply grateful to you if you choose to make me your MP.

Priyanka”

The bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 13 and Priyanka battles veteran CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri and Kozhikode municipal councillor Navya Haridas of the BJP.