Rahul Gandhi celebrates reinstatement; joins tribal dance performance

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the constituency from which he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) Wayanad on August 12th for the first time since the revocation of a ban on his disqualification as the MP. He took a flight that had stopped at the Coimbatore airport enroute to Wayanad. 

A video has gone viral wherein Rahul Gandhi is seen participating in a tribal dance performance. The video is from the Muthunadu village. This village falls close to Ooty, a popular tourist destination. The tribal community in question is the Toda ethnic group. 

#WATCH | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi with members of the Toda tribal community in Muthunadu village near Ooty in Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/g7iBVcKhTJ

— ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2023

The ethnic group, Toda have drawn attention for their unique lifestyle in the past as well. They live in settlements referred to Dogles, which are half barrelled in shape. This is made of bamboo, cane and rattan. In the past, the Toda community followed the practice of fraternal polyamory. In this practice a woman would be married off to all brothers of a family. It is said that the Toda community proclaims that they are descendants of Pandavas, a warrior clan from the epic Mahabharatha. Their practice of fraternal polyandry is therefore linked to this belief. 

Meanwhile KC Venugopal, general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had tweeted about Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Wayanad.