WAYANAD IS WAITING

Annie Raja has started an aggressive campaign. But the real battle will start when Rahul enters the scene

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

Shaly Paul says her husband was a big admirer of Rahul Gandhi. “Once he brought home a calendar that had Rahul’s photos,” she says. “He wished to meet Rahul in person, but, unfortunately, that wish remained unfulfilled.” Her husband, Paul V.P., died in an elephant attack on February 16.

“Following his demise, Rahul Gandhi visited our partially built house,” she says. “He noticed the calendar. He asked my daughter, Sona, what we needed. She said: ‘What my father would have provided’.”

Paul, 50, was a contract-watcher at the Kuruva Island, an ecotourism destination. He was trampled by an elephant near the tourist spot. A resident of Pakkom village in Wayanad’s Kalpetta, Paul was the second person to die in wild elephant attacks in Wayanad in February. He was taken to the Mananthavady Medical College, which was not equipped to handle his critical condition. He was later transferred by road to Kozhikode Medical College, nearly 100km away. On the day of the incident, Rahul was in Uttar Pradesh, leading the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, heading towards his former constituency Amethi.

In the aftermath of Paul’s death, typically tranquil Wayanad erupted. In Pulpally, the town closest to Pakkom, hundreds of people gathered, demanding a lasting solution to wildlife attacks, which had claimed 149 lives and left over 1,000 injured since 2014. Tensions escalated as Paul’s body was brought to the town. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the BJP-led NDA called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the district, each attributing blame to the others. Rahul, who had made only a handful of visits to the constituency since becoming MP, flew down; temporarily suspending his yatra.