[Interview] 'Wayanad Is A Classic Example Of Mockery And Drama In The Name Of An Alliance'— BJP Candidate K Surendran

Wayanad, a Lok Sabha constituency in northern Kerala, has been receiving nationwide attention due to Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from the seat once again in 2024, in spite of what it brings — an uncomfortable face-off with the Communist Party of India's (CPI) Annie Raja.

The CPI is a part of the Congress-led INDI Alliance.

The seat got even more interesting after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the candidature of K Surendran, the state president of the Kerala BJP.

Surendran has previously contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kasaragod (2009 and 2014) and Pathanamthitta (2019) and came into prominence during the Sabarimala agitation. He finished third in Pathanamthitta in 2019 with a vote share of 28.97 per cent.

In elections to the Vidhan Sabha, he has come close to being an MLA twice.

While the first time was in 2016, when he lost by just 89 votes, the second was in 2021, when he lost by 745 votes. Both of these were losses to candidates from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Manjeshwar, which is one of the seven assembly segments in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency.

Swarajya caught up with Surendran during his campaign trail.

Following are edited excerpts of the conversation:

With just a couple of days left before the elections, how are you feeling about the people’s response to your candidature and the BJP in general?

The public is totally against Rahul Gandhi and they are supporting Narendra Modiji in a big way. Rahul Gandhi and his team is working against the interest of the common man. For 10 years, Narendra Modi has given a lot for Wayanad and for Kerala. 

But as an MP, the contribution of Rahul Gandhi is a big zero. He has not been doing anything, and has not been coming here. He came here only seven times in five years. One for his nomination and one for his victory rally. The other five times, he came for Muslim League's programmes.

He is not raising any question related to Wayanad in Parliament. There are lot of developmental issues pending in Wayanad. There is no rail line. In India, very few districts are there without rail. There is a big railway project, i.e., the Nilambur-Nanjangud rail line for which the foundation stone was laid before independence. But Rahul Gandhi never met the railway minister. 

Only Modi ji has started the survey. 

He hasn’t followed up on the issue of getting a medical college or schemes designed for aspirational districts as well. (Wayanad is the only aspirational district in Kerala)

We don’t have good options for higher education here. 

Drinking water is a big problem. More than 20 per cent of the population is of Scheduled Tribes. There are many colonies without toilets, electricity or drinking water. What is Rahul Gandhi doing? What is his prestigious project? How many projects did he bring to Wayanad? Nothing is there. He is only spending his MPLADs, which a collector can also do.

So, I say, ‘missing Rahul Gandhi, flop Rahul Gandhi.’ 

People are very much fed up with Rahul Gandhi, anger is very strong and people believe that only Modi can give development in Wayanad. I am a Modi soldier and I can bring development with the help of Narendra Modi ji in Wayanad. In the next five years, I will bring development like in Amethi or other BJP leaders’ constituencies.

What are your major promises for Wayanad? 

I will settle all these development issues, i.e., railway, man-animal conflict, roads, medical college, following up on schemes for aspirational districts, the higher education systems, then farmer related issues.

What are some solutions for the man-animal conflict in this area?  

We have committed to resolving this issue. I raised this issue with the central leadership of the party and the PMO. It has been included in the manifesto. Together with the state government and all stakeholders, the central government will tackle this issue. 

Some of the solutions are beehive fencing, making fodder and water available in the forest so that animals do not have to come into areas inhabited by humans for food.

What are the steps that you would like to take to improve the lives of the Scheduled Tribe population?

Modi has gave us aspirational district status. Aspirational districts are those that are downtrodden, socially backward, educationally backward, health-wise backward, where malnutrition is high etc. 

There are a number of projects and schemes for aspirational districts and tribal communities. We will follow it up. The state government and the local MP is not taking any initiative to follow it up.

We are getting good support from the tribal community. Especially after Draupadi Murmu became the President of India, there is increased pride amongst the tribal communities.

What is the perception among people regarding the INDI Alliance? While they are fighting each other in Kerala, they are partners outside. 

Wayanad is a classic example of mockery and drama happening in the name of an alliance. While the opponent candidate, Annie Raja is requesting Rahul Gandhi and begging him not to come here, her husband, D Raja, is hugging Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. He is working there to make Rahul Gandhi as prime minister.

So people are asking why this drama, why you are contesting against each other? So people know that only NDA and BJP is fighting against the INDI Alliance. So the main contender in this election is Bharatiya Janata Party. 

This constituency has a significant minority population. How does that impact your chances of winning the election?

Now the minority community is also coming towards BJP, especially Muslim women. Their daughters are safe now because Modi has banned triple talaq. So thousands of Muslim women are openly supporting me. They are coming and they are supporting me. Muslim women and Christian community by and large this time are supporting BJP.

Are Uniform Civil Code and CAA big issues here? Are they being talked about? 

No, this is not an issue now because when the CAA was introduced a few years back, there was a big propaganda and there was big friction between Hindus and Muslims. Now Muslims have realised that CAA is not for snatching anybody's citizenship but only for giving citizenship for the persecuted minorities. So the confusion is clear now.

The wrong propaganda and wrong narrative by the Congress party and the CPI-M is not working in the community now.

Could you please elaborate on the issue of the renaming of Sulthan Bathery town. What has the response of the people been?

The issue is of disrespecting and disregarding Pazhassi Raja (a local ruler) and the freedom fighters and glorifying Tipu Sultan.

Who is Tipu Sultan? He is an invader. He came here for conversion, killing of Hindus and Christians, demolishing temples and churches. Christian genocide, Hindu genocide, looting of temples, conversion — all these things were done by Tipu Sultan in Karnataka and Kerala.

This place is known as Ganapathi Vattam and was renamed only because Tipu Sultan came. It is named after ‘battery’, a place where the weapons were kept. Later it got changed to ‘Bathery.’

Even in government records and tourism guides, there is mention of Ganapathi Vattam. 

What is your take on the issue of road connectivity to Karnataka through the Bandipur National Park? There have been protests in Wayanad demanding that night traffic should be allowed.

We are always trying to settle this issue and are open to out of court settlements or mediation. Now the state government in Karnataka is with the Congress party. But they are also not in favour of opening this road.

Do you think this road is very important for Wayanad?

Naturally people are suffering. But there are environmental issues and there is a Supreme Court judgement. As I said, we will try our best to settle the issue.

What is your expectation regarding the party’s performance at the state level?

This time we will get many seats in Lok Sabha. People are really fed up with LDF and UDF. There is a strong anti-incumbency against the state government. But this anti-incumbency feeling will not help the UDF. 

Why do you say that the anti-incumbency will not help the UDF?

Because the UDF is having 19 seats in Lok Sabha and all their MPs have flopped. They are useful only for doing strikes in Parliament and dharnas before the Gandhi statue. Nothing is happening. The MPs are not working on the welfare schemes. So, the anti-incumbency vote will naturally come to NDA.

What do you think is making people shift towards NDA? Is it the central government schemes or is it something beyond that?

PM Kisan, the Jal Jeevan mission, Ujjwala gas connection, good Gramin roads and free ration are all things supporting the common man. The state government is not doing anything. 

Here the government officials are also suffering.

50 per cent is the DA given by the central government. Here, it is only 9 per cent. But that 9 per cent is also not being given. Salaries and pensions are pending. State government schemes are stuck due to lack of money. 

What’s your take on the SDPI’s decision to support the Congress?

After the PFI ban, its functionaries were arrested, but now the Congress party is seeking support of the SDPI. SDPI is the political outfit of the PFI. How can Rahul Gandhi and Congress party seek public support from the PFI's political party? 

This is a big concern. PFI was openly stating that we will finish Hindu and Christian community, we will massacre Hindus and Christians, we will demolish churches and temples. Lot of innocent people and youth were brutally murdered by the PFI. So ultimately central government has banned this organisation but Congress party is seeking support from PFI. Jamaat-e-Islami is also supporting Congress party.

The PDP of Abdul Nasser Madani, who was accused of having a role in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts, is with LDF. So LDF and UDF, both are with radical elements. So Christians and Hindus and the peace lovers from the Muslims are supporting Modi and BJP.

What you are saying is however different from what the SDPI has said. They had stated that the Congress party had not sought their support and it was their own internal decision.

These are the backdoor operations. Everybody knows. All these things are backdoor operations for elections.

Your take on the issue of state finances and the state’s economic condition.

The state is in deep financial trouble. The Supreme Court ruling was a big blow to the chief minister and the finance minister of the CPI-M. Their false allegations did not work out. 

There is no significant revenue, except for lottery and liquor.

Nobody is investing here. Lot of people are working abroad, getting money, but depositing money in the bank and not investing. 

There is no suitable climate for industries. Industrial entrepreneurs are committing suicide. Trade union activism by the communist parties is threatening the investors. Tourism industry has also declined. 

So people are suffering. There is unemployment and brain drain. Lakhs of people are going out of the state. There is not a single visionary leader from the LDF or UDF. The only leader people believe and trust is Modi.

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on themes and topics that are often overlooked or looked down. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as ₹2999. Click here for more details.