Police in Kerala’s Wayanad registered a case after posters targeting Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge appeared outside the Congress office in the district and adjoining areas, officials said on Sunday.
The case was registered at Kalpetta police station based on a complaint filed by local MLA T Siddique, news agency PTI reported. A case has been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and the Kerala Police Act.
The FIR said the posters appeared on May 13, when the Congress leadership was yet to announce its choice of Kerala chief minister following the party-led alliance’s victory in the Assembly elections, a development reported by HT earlier.
What did the posters say?
The posters carried sharp messages addressed to the Congress high command regarding the possibility of nominating senior leader KC Venugopal for the post of Prime Minister.
“Mr Rahul, KC may be your bag holder, but the people of Kerala will never forgive you,” one poster read.
“Wayanad will be the next Amethi,” another warned.
A third said: “RG and PG, Kerala will never forgive you for this blunder.”
Some posters also threatened that Vadra, who currently represents Wayanad in Parliament, would be defeated in the next elections if the leadership supported Venugopal, police said. Rahul had represented Wayanad in the Lok Sabha between 2019 and 2024 before Vadra took over the seat.
The posters were pasted outside the Wayanad District Congress Committee office and near Vadra MP’s office in Mokkam, Kozhikode.
What is the controversy about?
The controversy erupted amid intense pressure within the Congress after the party-led United Democratic Front swept the Kerala Assembly elections, winning 102 of the 140 seats. The CPI (Maoist)-led Left Democratic Front has been reduced to 35 seats.
In the days following the May 4 election results, Congress workers across Kerala held protests to demand that senior leader V D Sathisan, who has served as Leader of the Opposition for the past five years, be appointed chief minister.
At the time, uncertainty over the leadership selection fueled speculation about Venugopal’s possible promotion. The Congress later appointed Sathisean as the chief minister-designate of Kerala.
Sources had earlier said that the All India Congress Committee leadership, including Karg and Rahul Gandhi, was not satisfied with the public protests and had asked the Kerala unit to curb such demonstrations.
CCTV footage under the scanner
Police are investigating CCTV footage that shows someone pasting posters on walls. However, the individual’s face is not clearly visible, the agency report said.
Earlier, HT reported that CCTV footage recovered by local Congress staff showed a person pasting the posters at around 3am. Although the person’s face was not clearly visible in the clip, party workers launched their own search to identify the person.
