Wayanad(Kerala): Addressing his first public procession after his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that MP is just a 'tag or position' that BJP can take away, but it cannot stop him from being the representative of his people. "Member of Parliament is a tag. It is a post. So, BJP can take away the tag, the post, and the house, and they can even jail me, but they cannot stop me from representing the people of Wayanad," the Congress leader said during the rally in his home constituency Wayanad.
"I am surprised that even after so many years, BJP has not understood its opponent. They do not understand that their opponent will not get intimidated. They think I will get scared by sending police to my house or that I will be disturbed if my house is taken away," he said, asserting that he knows he is doing the right thing since he is at the centre's constant target.
"I will not stop (fighting), no matter what happens. And I will do it for you, for the relationship I have with you people. As far as the people of Wayanad are concerned, it does not matter what political front you are a part of, you still are all my family," Gandhi said.
Thousands of people, including UDF leaders and workers, turned up on Tuesday at Kalpetta in the Wayanad district to welcome Rahul Gandhi, who arrived here along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi. Asserting that Wayanad feels like home to him because of how Kerala has embraced him and made him feel like family, Gandhi thanked the UDF leaders for being an unwavering support to him.
Addressing the gathering, Rahul's sister Priyanka highlighted that 'Rahul is an honest and brave man who is undaunted by the power of those who want him silenced'. "When I came to Wayanad in 2019, I told you a lot of things about my brother. Today, I'm confident that the people of Wayanad know who Rahul Gandhi is. You know that he is an honest & brave man who is undaunted by the power of those who want him silenced," Priyanka said.
She also pointed out how Rahul has no family of his own as he has chosen to make a family out of the people of the country. "I was packing up Rahul's furniture at his house. I was reflecting on the fact that my children and spouse helped me relocate my home a few years ago. But my brother doesn't have a family of his own to help him, even though he has the rest of us," Priyanka said.
While hundreds of UDF workers lined up at Kalpetta here for the roadshow called 'Satyameva Jayate' holding the Indian flag, many others across all age groups gathered on the roadside to welcome Gandhi as he travelled to the public meeting venue on a truck accompanied by his sister and senior party leaders from Kerala.
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Gandhi arrived here on a helicopter and then travelled to the venue on a truck which had to inch along in view of the thousands, carrying placards of his photograph, who had turned up to show their support for him. A large number of people were also gathered at the venue of the public meeting to hear him speak.
In the roadshow, only the national flag will be used instead of the party flags, the Congress said. The roadshow will follow another event -- Cultural Democratic Defense -- which has been organized as part of the conference and leading cultural activists of Kerala are expected to take part in it, the party said. The two Congress leaders would also be speaking at a public event here later in the afternoon, it added.
Senior Congress leaders like AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, KPCC President K Sudhakaran, Muslim League State President Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, AICC General Secretary Tariq Anwar and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, will also participate in the UDF-organised conference.
In 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi contested from Wayanad as his second seat and he won it with a record margin of over 4,31,779 votes over his nearest rival and CPI candidate P P Suneer. In that election, Rahul Gandhi however was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family's stronghold - Amethi LS seat in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of 50,000 votes.
Wayanad is a picturesque district with high literacy levels and a dominant Christian community, most of them migrated from other areas within the Kerala State and other places in the past few decades. Over 30 per cent of the population live in hills.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as the MP from Wayanad last month after being convicted and sentenced in a criminal defamation case.
