Rahul Gandhi says subtle goodbye to Wayanad

It appears Rahul Gandhi has said a subtle goodbye to the people of Wayanad, who elected him twice to the Lok Sabha.
Gandhi who won from the constituencies of Wayanad in Kerala and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh must vacate one of the seats within fourteen days of the declaration of results as stipulated by the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

It has been almost ten days since the Lok Sabha results came (June 4), but neither the national leadership of Congress nor Gandhi himself have given a clear answer.

State Congress chief K Sudhakaran more or less confirmed that Gandhi will go with Raebareli, which is one of the prestigious seats secured by the Congress-led INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

"We should not be sad as Rahul Gandhi, who is supposed to lead the nation cannot be expected to remain in Wayanad. Therefore, we should not be sad. Everyone should understand that and give all their wishes and support to him," Sudhakaran recently said.

In this context, Gandhi's first visit to Wayanad, on Wednesday, since the results were declared was expected to solve the predicament: Wayanad or Raebareli? "Everyone knows the answer to this question, except myself," Gandhi joked in his public address at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Wednesday. "Don't worry, both Raebareli and Wayanad will be happy with my decision," he said.

Earlier in the day, he addressed a gathering at Edavanna in Malappuram district which also falls under the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. His speeches were laced with humour, aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He mocked Modi's remark about his preference for mango-eating. "He (Modi) says in another interview that he's not a biological person. He says God tells me what to do... I was thinking what an interesting God the prime minister has. Every decision he takes benefits Adani and Ambani. Narendra Modi's God does not want to help farmers, the poor and the unemployed," Gandhi said.

In between the humour, which some say is a good mechanism to diffuse tension such as those arising from a break-up, Gandhi waxed lyrical about the voters of Wayanad. Even though the Congress leader's speech was still ambiguous about his choice: Wayanad or Raebareli? the general tone in it felt like a goodbye.

"The people of Wayanad supported me throughout the last five years. I was travelling across the country and the people of Wayanad were supporting me throughout.

"I was being interrogated by the ED for 55 hours but the people of Wayanad supported me. The BJP gave me a two-year jail term and charged me with 20 cases, but the people of Wayanad supported me. The BJP took away my house, and I got letters from people in Wayanad saying, live in our house.

"So throughout this period, you have supported me with your love and affection. This is beyond elections. I can say, look the people of Wayand gave me a big victory, but that is not the only thing you did. When I was struggling and fighting the government of India, and all the agencies, you gave me your love and affection, which is much more important than the vote. So, you treated me like a family member and I can never thank you enough. Even 20-30 speeches like this will not be good enough. But I will remember it all my life."