Ooty: Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president, is all set to become Ooty’s neighbour as he chose to contest from Wayanad in Kerala, bordering western Nilgiris. Congress cadres in Nilgiris are hopeful of Rahul’s victory and getting ready to travel to Wayanad to canvas.
To go to Wayanad district, one had to only cross a check post in Pattavaval in Gudalur and in Cherampadi in Pandalur in the western Nilgiris. It is in such close proximity with the Nilgiris that regular buses from Ooty ply to Vaithiri and Sultan Bathery in Wayanad. The Wayanad border is about 80 kms from Ooty, while it is next door to Gudalur and Pandalur taluks on the western Nilgiris border. Hence Rahul’s contest from Wayanad has triggered interest in the Nilgiris.
While Wayanad wildlife sanctuary is in continuity with the Mudumalai jungles on the Nilgiris broder, the border area of the two states is also known for Maoist movements.
Mr. R. Ravikumar, general secretary of the Nilgiris district Congress committee said that in Rahul, the Nilgiris will have a “Special MP” to represent the hills in Parliament. “Rahul’s contest from Wayanad will balance the north-south divide and help the whole of southern India to have a stalwart politician to represent them in Parliament. During the recent floods in Kerala, it is the residents of the Nilgiris who instantly landed in Wayanad for relief works. Rahul’s election from Wayanad will help to find a solution to long standing problems in the Nilgiris like the plea for a minimum support price for tea, tribal status for Badagas, and job oriented industrial development schemes in the Nilgiris,” he noted.
