Behind a garlanded picture of Mahatma Gandhi, about 50 Congressmen hold a protest Sunday at Kalpetta in Kerala as part of the party's daylong nationwide satyagraha against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as the Lok Sabha MP. They are sitting on chairs arranged on a sidewalk in this town, the headquarters of Wayanad district, whose Lok Sabha seat fell vacant Friday when Rahul was disqualified following his conviction and sentencing to two years in jail by a Surat court in a defamation case over his 2019 remarks on the Modi surname. At a nearby bus shelter, passengers board and get off buses, with barely anyone stopping even for a moment to hear the speeches being delivered by the Congress activists, one after another. By 4 pm, when the satyagraha is to wind up, there are more empty chairs than the Congressmen present at the protest site. Three days into Rahul's disqualification, his Wayanad constituency has been missing the heat that the Congress has built up over the issue in Delhi, where the entire Opposition has rallied round the top Congress leader. Despite a few protests it has organised in Wayanad, the Congress has failed to galvanise the local people over Rahul's disqualification in this hilly, agrarian belt. None of the key state Congress leaders has visited Wayanad so far to fuel the local party unit's protests, which have remained tepid. No Congress banner pledging support for the disqualified local MP is seen on the streets of Kalpetta or in nearby villages or parts of the Wayanad constituency in the adjoining Kozhikode district. A few old billboards of Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra are seen sharing space with the DYFI hoardings about its April district meet. What seems to have been missing in most parts of the constituency is a visible display of public solidarity with the beleaguered local MP disqualified over a year before the conclusion of his term. The issue seems to have ebbed away from the countryside, where locals were seen tracking social media about the health of actor Innocent (who died late on Sunday). The Wayanad District Congress Committee's president and ex-MLA N D Appachan says, ``We are sticking to a non-violent method of protest. For the last three days, we had protests in Kalpetta. We believe in Gandhian way of protest only and there are legal options for the party (to challenge the Surat court verdict). Don’t expect that we would resort to violent protests in Wayanad. The party has legal options.” However, the Congress's protest against Rahul’s disqualification on Kalpetta streets Friday saw a clash between Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) member P P Ali and Youth Congress district secretary Sali Rattakkolly, who is also the office secretary of local Congress MLA T Siddique, and their supporters, who exchanged blows in front of TV cameras while jostling for space in the front row of their march. This open infighting has divided the Congress in Wayanad, forcing many local leaders to stay away from subsequent protests. In a sign of the party's organisational crisis on Rahul's turf, the state Youth Congress had to mobilise workers from even outside Wayanad for its Sunday night protest. I left Wayanad with nothing but pride for the people I represent. The display of bravery and dignity in the face of immense tragedy is truly humbling. It is such an honour and pleasure to be your MP. Thank you Kerala. pic.twitter.com/PVwmUAFboZ — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2019 Suresh, an autorickshaw driver in Muttil town for the last 15 years, says: “People here are not very much concerned about Rahul's disqualification. They think Rahul would get a favourable verdict from appeal courts. Maybe a few Congress men would go for the agitation. On the ground, people are not interested. Look at the shops remaining closed, mainly due to the economic crisis, here. People do not have money at their disposal. The crisis is so deep and our concern is only about seeking our daily livelihood.” C Palani, a dairy farmer from Puthoorvayal near Kalpetta, says, ``I don’t have time to read newspapers or watch TV news. I picked up the details from discussions at the milk collection centre. Rahul should not have insulted the backward communities. He should have been more cautious while speaking against others.” A resident of Meppadi, T P Assainar, however says that public sentiments in the constituency are in Rahul's favour. ``The issue has created an impression that he is the only person who can take on the BJP in the country. The Muslim community is very much concerned about the threat posed by BJP to minorities. Rahul being attacked means BJP sees him as its main rival,” he says. “In Wayanad, Rahul's popularity has only grown over the last four years. We thought he would be inaccessible and be like a migratory bird. But whenever he visits Wayanad, he tries his best to mingle with people. There would be sympathy building up in his favour in the wake of his disqualification,’’ Assainar says. Today is the 2nd day of my 3 day tour of Wayanad, Kerala that I now represent as MP. I’m humbled by the love & affection showered on me by the people of Wayanad, as I tour the constituency. I thank you all for your support! pic.twitter.com/rXc6JaaWu0 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 8, 2019 With the CPI(M), the main rival of the Congress in Wayanad as elsewhere in Kerala, finding a common cause with Rahul in the disqualification row, the BJP is the only party that would counter the Congress's campaign in the constituency. However, the saffron party has been silent over the issue so far. A BJP ally BDJS, a party floated by a backward Hindu community leader Vellappally Natesan, had contested the election from the constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. BJP sources said the party is planning a campaign to highlight that Rahul has “insulted” the OBC communities. “Wayanad has a large section of Hindu backward Ezhava community, the mainstay of BDJS. Hence, we hope this campaign would work in the constituency against the backdrop of the Surat court verdict,” a BJP leader said. Rahul’s candidature in Wayanad had led to the Congress-led UDF's sweep in Kerala in the 2019 polls, when it bagged 19 of the state's 20 Lok Sabha seats. The then Congress president defeated the CPI's PP Suneer by 4,31,770 votes, the highest-ever victory margin recorded in Wayanad.
