KALPETTA: A day after the early-morning police raids in Palakkad created a flutter, political tensions flared up once again in Kerala, this time in poll-bound Wayanad, after the Election Commission’s flying squad and local police confiscated nearly 30 food kits featuring pictures of prominent Congress leaders, including UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi, on Thursday.
The kits were seized from a flour mill in Tholpetty. Intended as relief supplies, they reportedly had on display pictures of Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi as well as Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
The kits, containing essentials like tea, sugar, rice and other staples, were labelled as relief supplies for the survivors of the July 30 landslides. Soon after news broke of the seizure, the LDF alleged that the kits were meant to sway voters in favour of the Congress ahead of the November 13 bypoll.
Sources indicated that the kits were found near the residence of a local Congress leader. LDF leaders alleged the kits were brought in to influence the election results by associating the Congress with the relief efforts, and called for a closer look at the use of the supplies as election propaganda. BJP’s Wayanad candidate Navya Haridas said seizure of the kits raised serious concerns on the integrity of the electoral process in the constituency.
“It is deeply troubling that certain political parties are trying to exploit humanitarian aid for electoral gains. The people of Wayanad are intelligent and will see through such desperate tactics,” Navya said.
The Congress denied any wrongdoing and clarified that the kits were allocated to the survivors of the disaster.