Rahul Halts Yatra to Visit Wayanad after Elephant Attack Fatality, Will Resume March Sunday

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will rush to his Wayanad constituency which is on the boil after a third human casualty in a wild elephant attack was reported in three weeks. He halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi to facilitate his Wayanad trip and will resume his march from Prayagraj Sunday afternoon, the party said.

Varanasi/Wayanad: As Wayanad grapples with man-animal conflict that has been keeping the district on the edge, Wayanad Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will attend to the grievances from his constituency, halting his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which is currently in Varanasi.

"Rahul Gandhi’s presence is required urgently in Wayanad. He is leaving this evening from Varanasi at 5PM. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will resume at 3PM tomorrow, February 18th, at Prayagraj," Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, wrote in a post in X.

The yatra entered Uttar Pradesh from Bihar at Chanduali where it halted for the night on Friday. It resumed on Saturday morning, before it was urgently halted in the afternoon following the hartal call from the grand old party seeking to capture the wild elephants on the loose in human habitation of Wayanad district.

Three persons were killed in as many weeks in Kerala's Wayanad district by a wild elephant which has been entering human settlements, amid efforts to capture it. The wild elephant fatally trampled a person on Friday, escalating the tension. Hundreds have gathered at Pulpally locality in Wayanad, demanding a permanent solution for the ever increasing threat from wild animals.

On Saturday, a district-wide hartal was called for by the ruling LDF, opposition UDF and BJP in Wayanad pressing for permanent solutions to the man-animal conflicts in the region. All shops and businesses remained shut while vehicles kept off the roads across the district.

Rajesh Tiwari, Congress secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, said, "Rahul Gandhi will not be participating in the Bhadohi leg of the yatra as he has left for Wayanad but the yatra will continue. We will take the yatra forward from Bhadohi to Prayagraj." Rahul will arrive at Prayagraj Sunday afternoon and join the yatra.

The yatra which is now halted in Uttar Pradesh will spend some quality time here in the state before entering Rajasthan. The east to west Manipur-Mumbai yatra is expected to cover 6,700 km traversing 15 states, aiming to highlight the message of 'nyay' (justice) while meeting common people on the way.