Contesting second seat a smart move by Rahul
Gandhi won Amethi by well over one lakh votes in 2014 at the height of the Narendra Modi wave, although this was a big drop from earlier times.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to fight the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, which he has represented three times, is smart strategy. The decision was clothed in concern for the southern states as the message has been around for some time that this government at the Centre has treated the South Indian states unfairly (in the context of Central allocations and the GST formula for producing states).
This may be worthy of debate, but in choosing to stand from the nation's southernmost state, Mr Gandhi is evidently attempting to confirm the impression of having become an all-India public figure, at home in all parts of the country. This is an important message, whatever the overall outcome of the coming Lok Sabha polls. Wayanad in north Kerala is a point where Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu meet.
Mr Gandhi won Amethi by well over one lakh votes in 2014 at the height of the Narendra Modi wave, although this was a big drop from earlier times. Since Smriti Irani tasted defeat at Amethi (but was still made a Union minister with major portfolios), she has redoubled her efforts in nursing the constituency and many believe that Mr Gandhi will have a tougher battle on his hands this time around.
The picture is likely to be complicated for the Congress if in this constituency there is sabotage from elements within the BSP and SP alliance, the Mahagathbandhan parties, though they have said they would not be fielding candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli (Sonia Gandhi's constituency). The BJP says that in fighting from a relatively safe seat for the Congress in Kerala, Mr Gandhi is "running away" from UP out of fear. For now, this may be treated as overblown poll-time propaganda.
But the Congress' Wayanad decision has upset the Left, whose top leaders have said that while Mr Gandhi proclaims that his principal fight is against the BJP, in Kerala he would be pitted against the Left. But this appears to be an overstated position.
In Kerala, the Left Front has always been pitted against the Congress-led United Democratic Front, and the Left has lost Wayanad to the Congress two elections running, although by a narrow vote in 2014. Besides, seen from the Congress' perspective, the party's president contesting in Wayanad is likely to impart special energy to Congress candidates in the nearby areas of Kasargod, Kannur and Pathmapitha (where the Sabarimala shrine is located) and help shore up the party across Kerala, besides the adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The way the political ding-dong battle has evolved in India since 2014, it has been evident to all, except perhaps the Left, that the BJP treats the Congress, even in its present depleted condition, as its primary ideological and political foe.