On a 10-day visit to Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi said she wanted to know firsthand the issues she had long been aware of. While the remark was related to infrastructure works, she now grapples with a disturbing glut of suicides of her partymen in Wayanad. Deaths allegedly driven by factional feud, mounting debts and corruption mirror the quagmire in which the party has found itself in Priyanka's own constituency. 

Over the past decade, at least five Congress functionaries, including NM Vijayan, the former District Congress Committee treasurer, and Jose Nelledam, a prominent leader of Mullankolly village panchayat, have died by suicide. Leaked phone conversations and videos have added to the mess for the party. A video was recorded by Nelledam shortly before he ended his life in which he alleged that his own party men had fabricated corruption charges against him.

A few days before Nelledam ended his life, Kanattumalayil Thankachan, a local Congress leader from Marakkadavu, was released from prison after spending 17 days in jail on charges of possessing illicit liquor and country bombs. Police admitted before the court that he was falsely implicated and sought his release. The false case against Thankachan was perceived as an aftereffect of the factional feud.

The party, reeling from the suicide of Nelledam, was rattled by the suicide attempt of Padmaja Vijesh on Saturday, the daughter-in-law of Vijayan, who had consumed poison and died in December 2024. Vijayan and his son Jijesh took the extreme step after being unable to repay the huge sums collected from job seekers offering appointments in the Congress-controlled Sulthan Bathery Cooperative Bank. In his suicide note, Vijayan held senior Congress leaders DCC president N D Appachan, former DCC president I C Balakrishnan MLA, and former DCC treasurer K K Gopinathan Master, responsible for his death.

The recurring suicides have left the party paralysed at the grassroots at a time the Congress-led United Democratic Front is preparing for another electoral battle to the three-tier panchayats. It has exposed the lack of cohesive leadership in Wayanad. Party sources said that Priyanka Gandhi had already expressed her displeasure at the state of affairs and called for urgent intervention, warning that Congress is losing its mass base in the traditional stronghold in the district. She is currently in the constituency, holding talks with all leaders.

The CPM has sensed an opportunity, and senior leaders have expressed sympathy for Vijayan's family. An audio clip purportedly of Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan's conversation with Vijayan's family has further pushed the party on the back foot. The voice is heard saying that the Congress ought to have fulfilled its commitment to clear the debts. Party leadership insists that financial support has been extended to the family, and part of Vijayan's debts has been settled.

The Congress party in Wayanad has been riddled by suicides even in the past. In 2015, P V John, then president of the Mananthavadi Block Congress Committee, hanged himself in the party office following humiliation after a local body poll defeat, a fallout of another factional feud. In 2023, Rajendran Nair, another Congressman from Kelakavala near Pulppalli, ended his life after realising that his land documents were misused by Congress leaders to avail of loans from the Congress-controlled Primary Cooperative Bank, Pulppalli, leaving him trapped in debt. Former DCC president K L Poulose and former DCC general secretary K K Abraham are facing cases in connection with the massive financial irregularities in the bank.

Kalpetta MLA T Siddique told Onmanorama that part of the debts of NM Vijayan had been settled, and the party also had extended support to the family. He also admitted that party foes are exploiting the situation, putting the party in a fix.   

Sources in the party revealed that Priyanka Gandhi has taken the issue seriously and called for a revamp of the party in Wayanad. Thiruvanchoor, who headed the Wayanad mission launched by KPCC to settle the problems, told Onmanorama that the party is paying the price for the delayed action. "Many things are on the anvil to revamp the party in Wayanad, which KPCC would announce soon," he said.

A Congress leader said that Priyanka Gandhi has sought a report from the KPCC regarding the crisis of the party in Wayanad. "Among the failures of the party unit, the most serious one was its failure to find an ideal land for constructing houses for the  Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslide victims," he said. "Though she was ready to mobilise funds for the project from other parts of the country, the District Congress Committee continues to be lethargic," he added.

Priyanka Gandhi is also expected to visit Nelledam's house during her stay, a move closely watched by party workers of the district. Onmanorama contacted Priyanka Gandhi for the article; she has yet to respond.