Youth Congress Still ‘Intends’ to Build Wayanad Houses, Someday, Says O J Janeesh

Thiruvananthapuram: Youth Congress Kerala State President O J Janeesh appeared before the press today with a familiar assurance: the party still plans to build houses for Wayanad’s landslide victims, just not yet. When asked when construction would finally begin, he replied with disarming honesty, “It’s our responsibility, we will build them, but I can’t say when.”

That statement, delivered one and a half years after the grand announcement, did little to inspire confidence. What began as a campaign of compassion now looks more like a lesson in creative procrastination. The Youth Congress had proudly declared it would raise 2.80 crore rupees and build 30 houses for families hit by the Mundakkai–Chooralmala disaster. Constituency-l evel fund drives were launched, a special app was rolled out, and photo ops followed. Then, silence.

The app was later removed from playstore and have been deactivated ever since the controversy came out.

According to complaints now before the authorities, about 88 lakh rupees was collected, and that was where the project stopped. No houses, no accounts, no audit, just plenty of statements about “technicalities” and “land issues.” Inside the Youth Congress, the whispers have grown into open muttering: leaders are accused of quietly burying the very funds they raised in the name of the poor.

The first signs of internal revolt came at a state camp in Alappuzha, where some members dared to ask what happened to the money. They were swiftly rewarded with disciplinary action. The leadership, it seems, is far better at punishing dissent than laying foundations.

Meanwhile, other organisations that made similar promises have long since delivered. The DYFI, for instance, handed over 20 crore rupees to build 100 houses. The AIYF chipped in with 1 crore. The Youth Congress, on the other hand, is still somewhere between drafting the letter and finding the land.

Former president Rahul Mamkootathil had once declared the houses would be ready within six months, that was fifteen months ago. Now the party seems to be building only on excuses, not soil. “Some mistakes happened,” Janeesh conceded, which might be the understatement of the year.

Inside the Youth Congress, frustration simmers. Some call it a betrayal, others a scandal. Outside, the public is less forgiving. What was once launched as a noble mission to rebuild homes for the poor now stands as a monument to delay, denial, and disappearing funds.

As the government’s own township rehabilitation plan moves ahead, the Youth Congress continues to hold on to its dream project, somewhere between intention and imagination.