Wayanad rehabilitation: Centre discriminating against Kerala, says K.C. Venugopal

K.C. Venugopal, MP, and All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation), has accused the Union government of discriminating against Kerala by denying the funds it had demanded for the reconstruction of landslide-hit Wayanad.

In a press release, the Congress MP pointed out that though Kerala had sought a package of ₹2,219 crore, the Centre allocated only ₹260.56 crore. However, Maharashtra was allocated ₹1,492 crore in 2024 and Assam received ₹1,270 crore this year for flood relief works.

Claiming that though the people of Wayanad looked up to the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the disaster with hope, it turned out to be “a photoshoot managed by PR agencies.” Though Mr. Modi “shed crocodile tears” before the camera, he completely ignored Kerala’s demand thereafter, he said.

Mr. Venugopal asked the Union Ministers from the State [George Kurian and Suresh Gopi] to clarify if they concurred with this approach.

They should make their stand clear if they do not have any interest in addressing the needs of the calamity-hit people, who were being ignored and marginalised, he said.

The Congress leader also asked if they would work towards changing the stand of the Union government.

Referring to the ‘Kalungu’ open debate series being held by Mr. Gopi in various parts of Kerala, Mr. Venugopal wondered if the Union Minister was willing to conduct a similar event in the landslide-hit regions of Wayanad.

The Congress leader alleged that the Modi government’s policy was to “politically and economically destroy” the people of Kerala, who have not subscribed to the ideology of the BJP as yet. The Centre was economically strangulating State governments whose political ideology was opposed to it, he said.

Mr. Venugopal also alleged that the “mental state of the Union government is such that it does not even consider the people of such States as human beings.”