Ending days of suspense, the Congress has finally come up with a much awaited announcement for two prestigious seats in Uttar Pradesh – Amethi and Rae Bareli. The declaration however came with a twist. Rahul Gandhi opted out from Amethi, deciding not to take on a feisty sitting MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani and moving to his mother’s erstwhile seat, an adjacent Rae Bareli. From Amethi, an old-time family loyalist, Sonia Gandhi’s representative Kishori Lal Sharma was named as Congress candidate. Rahul Gandhi’s decision to shift to Rae Bareli seat has averted a keen contest in Amethi where Smriti Irani is seeking a second term. In Rae Bareli, he will be facing Dinesh Pratap Singh, a veteran Congressman, who is the BJP candidate.
Rae Bareli can truly be termed a Congress bastion. If there is one Lok Sabha seat in the country that can claim to have the longest association with the Gandhi family, it is Rae Bareli. After Independence, barring three occasions, the Congress has been continuously winning the seat. Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Rae Bareli shows that the family still cherishes its ties with this constituency, but it will not be a cakewalk this time. The problem with Congress is that the much-delayed decision, suspense, speculation and source-based information are giving the impression that Rahul Gandhi is a reluctant candidate and was forced by the circumstances to contest from Rae Bareli.
During election time, since it is actually people who choose their representative, it becomes important what people perceive, believe and talk about a leader. It is being talked about in political circles, including Congress, that neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi was willing to take on Smriti Irani. It doesn’t matter whether this is right or wrong because this is fast percolating in popular perception. Contesting from Amethi and losing to her for the second time would have huge repercussions for Rahul Gandhi. The same applies to Priyanka Gandhi. What if someone whom Congress has for long been projecting as their “powerful weapon”, loses to Smriti Irani? This was something, which Congress would dread to even dream of.
While Rae Bareli has remained loyal to the Gandhi family in the past decades, the party cadres in the constituency have almost wilted away. As things stand today, Congress has virtually no presence left in the constituency though the older generation of voters is still emotionally inclined towards the Gandhis. Rahul Gandhi’s shift from Amethi to Rae Bareli spices up the poll campaign for the upcoming phases. Rahul Gandhi will face an uphill task in bringing Congress veterans back to the centre stage and getting the act together. He will need to work hard to preserve the seven-decade-old relationship of his family with the constituency. As far as Amethi is concerned, it now seems that it is now a cakewalk for the BJP’s Smriti Irani.
