Is Congress president Rahul Gandhi heading for trouble in Amethi after the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a full-scale battle against him in his family bastion? Will the Nehru-Gandhi scion be forced to find a new constituency or will he have to play safe and contest from two seats?
Though the next Lok Sabha election is over two years away, these questions are being raised in the Congress as the BJP leadership sent out an unmistakable message on Tuesday that it is determined to wrest Amethi from the grand old party’s first family. While there is no dearth of Congress leaders who maintain that Rahul Gandhi should not desert Amethi and should take up the BJP challenge to prove a point, there are others who feel he should not take any chances and should either switch constituencies or emulate his mother Sonia Gandhi and pick a second safe seat.
Raising their party’s rivalry with the Congress a notch higher, BJP president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi and Union minister Smriti Irani descended upon Amethi on Tuesday where they announced a slew of projects for the Lok Sabha constituency and lambasted Rahul Gandhi for his failure to bring any development to the area. The three took turns in attacking the Congress vice-president while showering praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“There are two models of growth in Amethi: Gandhi-Nehru model and the Modi model,” said Shah. “Three generations of the Gandhis abandoned Amethi. Modi model means 24x7 electricity for all households.”
Criticising dynasty
This attack on the Congress leader coincided with Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in poll-bound Gujarat, where he took potshots at his political adversaries by referring to the recent media reports that the revenues of a company owned by Shah’s son had risen dramatically after the BJP came to power.
If the Congress is working assiduously to dethrone the three-term BJP government in Gujarat, the BJP is hitting back in equal measure as it goes all-out to discredit Rahul Gandhi in his constituency. In a departure from the past when parties usually put up a token fight in seats held by senior leader from the rival camp, the BJP has embarked upon a virtual mission to ensure Rahul Gandhi’s defeat in Amethi.
The saffron party had fielded Irani from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Irani ran a spirited campaign against the Congress leader and ensured that his victory margin was reduced from over 3 lakhs to little over one lakh. Though she was defeated, Irani has visited Amethi several times over the last three years to establish herself as a credible alternative to Rahul Gandhi. Not only does the fiery Union minister make it a point to highlight how Rahul Gandhi has failed the people of Amethi by doing little for his constituency, she has been wooing the electorate by initiating special projects and distributing gifts on special occasions.
The BJP’s bash in Amethi on Tuesday was essentially a declaration of an all-out war. In this instance, the saffron party is fighting from a position of strength. The BJP is in power both at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, which makes it far easier for the party to damage the Congress leader and simultaneously reach out to the people through a variety of development projects.
Though the Congress refuses to admit it, the BJP’s aggressive pitch has unnerved the party. There is a growing realisation that if the public mood in Amethi turns against the Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi will have to scout around for another constituency by the time the 2019 general election draws close. It is being whispered that Rahul Gandhi may shift to the neighboring Rae Bareli, presently represented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi as she may opt out of the electoral race in the next Lok Sabha poll. In that case, there is a possibility that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be fielded from Amethi to take on Irani, thus setting the stage for a lively, high-decibel contest.
A Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi’s move to Rae Bareli would be put down to the fact that he was taking on his mother’s mantle and carrying forward his family’s political legacy. “If the Congress president is vacating her seat [of Rae Bareli], it is natural that the next Congress president is fielded as the party’s candidate in her place,” explained a Congress official. A similar explanation about political legacy was offered in 2004 when Rahul Gandhi debuted in politics from Amethi, a constituency first represented by his father Rajiv Gandhi and subsequently by his mother Sonia Gandhi, who moved to Rae Bareli.
Long connection
The other option under discussion is that the Congress vice-president contest from two Lok Sabha seats. Sonia Gandhi had done so in 1999 when she contested from Amethi and Bellary in Karnataka where she was pitched against the BJP’s star orator Sushma Swaraj. Sonia Gandhi went on to win both the seats but she eventually opted to represent Amethi. “The party may well have to scout around for a safe second seat for Rahul Gandhi in the South,” remarked another Congress insider.
Despite this all-round pessimism, there are diehard Gandhi family loyalists who insist that the BJP efforts in Amethi will come to naught as the constituency has a four-decade-long association with the Gandhi family and that, when it comes to the crunch, residents will not snap those ties. “There is a deep connect between the people of Amethi and the Gandhis…eventually people will not desert the family,” said a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh. They are also convinced that Rahul Gandhi will not desert his seat and will be more than willing to take on the BJP challenge. “What if he wins his seat in 2019 in spite of the BJP machinery’s full might… it will further strengthen Rahul Gandhi and add to his stature,” a Congress leader said.