WAYANAD, KERALA – Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has made a sudden departure to his Lok Sabha constituency in Wayanad, Kerala, following a district-wide strike organized by opposition parties in response to escalating man-animal conflicts in the region. The strike turned violent, prompting Gandhi’s urgent return to Wayanad from Varanasi, where he was on his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ campaign.
Gandhi’s visit comes in the wake of yet another tragic incident involving a man being killed by a wild elephant near Kuruva island in Wayanad. This has triggered widespread protests and demands for permanent solutions to the recurring human-elephant conflicts in the region.
Local residents took to the streets, leading to violent incidents during the ‘hartal’, including the vandalism of a forest department vehicle, as tensions ran high. The death of a forest department tourism guide at the hands of a wild tusker near Kuruva island only served to fuel the anger and frustration within the community.
As Gandhi makes his way back, the situation in Wayanad remains tense, with all shops closed, and vehicles staying off the roads. Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has taken action, directing concerned ministers to convene a high-level meeting to address the ongoing conflicts between humans and animals in Wayanad on February 20.
This recent incident is not the first of its kind, with a similar tragedy occurring just last week when a man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the Mananthavady area of the district, sparking widespread outrage.
As tensions continue to simmer, the local community looks to their leaders for decisive action and long-term solutions to the pressing issue of human-animal conflicts in the region. The political and social implications of these incidents in Wayanad are significant, and the response from both the local and national leadership will be closely watched in the coming days.