Wayanad not fertile ground for Sangh Parivar politics: Congress

Thiruvananthapuram, May 5 The Congress party in Kerala on Thursday warned the BJP/RSS to keep away from Wayanad as it's not a fertile ground for the Sangh Parivar forces and it would be foolish to be on the trail of Rahul Gandhi.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala took strong exception to the political trail that Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani blazed in the Lok Sabha constituency of Gandhi recently.

"The political upmanship undertaken by Irani at Wayanad has been dismissed by the people as all know that in the state the maximum development has taken place in Wayanad constituency. One fails to understand why she did this. This is nothing but cheap politicking and we wish to point out that Wayanad is not a fertile ground in which to play communal politics," said Chennithala.

"The state BJP leadership should have told her this as Irani can play politics, but it's not good for someone who has taken oath as a Union Minister to indulge in cheap politicking. The people of Wayanad have dismissed the politicking undertaken by her," added Chennithala.

Incidentally while interacting with the media that day, when asked if she is planning to contest from Wayanad, she instantly replied, "I am not Rahul Gandhi,".

Wayanad district has the largest population of tribals in the state and their condition continues to be poor, despite the numerous Central schemes for their upliftment.

According to the 2011 Census, the Scheduled Tribe population in Kerala is 4,84,839 (1.5 per cent of the total population). Wayanad district has the highest number of tribals (1,51,443) in the state.

Superstar Suresh Gopi, a nominated member of the Upper House and whose term ended last month, in his last few speeches in parliament raised the issue of how centrally sponsored schemes for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden and for the SC/ST communities in Kerala are not getting due attention. This prompted Irani to visit Wayanad.