As a video of Rahul Gandhi partying at a nightclub in Kathmandu went viral on Tuesday, Union Minister Smriti Irani spent the day at the Congress leader’s constituency of Wayanad, indicating the BJP’s plans in Kerala.
During her visit — a part of the Centre’s Aspirational Districts programme — Irani said there was “much that has not been done” in the district, and that the local administration has assured her that this would be addressed.
She also tweeted a video titled ‘For our friends in Wayanad… With Love from Amethi’, which listed how Rahul had “failed” Amethi. In the last parliamentary elections, in 2019, Irani had defeated Rahul in Amethi, the Gandhi family’s pocketborough.
Asked by reporters on whether she would consider contesting elections from Wayanad if her party asked her to, Irani said: “I am not Rahul Gandhi, I don’t run from Amethi.” She also said she came bearing Amethi’s compliments for Wayanad.
Irani had contested against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but faced defeat. However, in 2019, Irani trounced the former Congress president in his home turf. Rahul somehow managed to retain his place in the House by winning Wayanad. The BJP has repeatedly deployed Irani against the Congress leader over a host of issues.
Despite making huge electoral gains across the country, Kerala has continued to elude the BJP. Its repeated attempts to latch on to regional players to corner some political ground in the state have not paid off either. Sending a popular leader to the Congress stronghold could be part of the party’s renewed push in the southern state.