Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
| Photo Credit: INCIndia on X via PTI

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP, has extolled the role of soldiers who fight for the country to “uphold the freedom of each and every citizen, that many of us often take for granted.”

“Martyrs’ memorials are reminders that whatever we have today has come at a cost and there are people who sacrificed a lot for it”, she said, inaugurating Veer Jawan Thalachira Janeesh Smrithi Mandapam at Elumannam in Edavaka grama panchayat, near Mananthavady, in Wayanad district of Kerala on Friday (March 28, 2025).

She recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had envisaged freedom for each and every person and that an effective panchayat raj system was his dream. “It was this dream that my father (former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) tried to fulfil while passing the Panchayat Raj Act”, she said, adding that panchayats in Kerala were “a model for the country.”

Ms. Vadra also appreciated the members of Haritha Karma Sena who played a pivotal role in earning the ‘Zero-Waste Grama Panchayat’ title for Edavaka and said they were “as important as the soldiers.”

Ms. Vadra released the citation of zero-waste panchayat as well as the panchayat’s Local Climate Change Action Plan on the occasion.

Panchayat president Pallikkal Ahammed Kutty Bran presided over the event.

Late Thalachira Janeesh, who lost his life during an anti-terror operation at Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, in 2003, was awarded Sena Medal for his services in 2004. His memorial was built by the panchayat on land donated by Kunhiraman Nair Memorial Trust.