Gandhis’ virtual ‘grudge match’ against Irani in Amethi

Amethi : Elections in Amethi are unfolding like a slow-burn Alfred Hitchcock thriller with BJP’s high-profile Smriti Irani and the relatively unknown Kishori Lal Sharma of the Congress locked in a fierce contest heading towards a difficult to predict climax.

What should be a conventional ending has turned out to be a nail biter with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s spirited campaign for the Congress scripting possible twists and turns in the absorbing electoral battle.

Irani was the quintessential ‘outsider’, albeit from the BJP powerhouse, in 2019 when she beat former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the constituency long considered the party’s very own. Five years later, Rahul Gandhi has moved to nearby Rae Bareli and Gandhi family aide Sharma is up against the incumbent BJP MP’s star power.

It should be an easy contest but it isn’t. As people discuss the Ram temple, Modi factor, the Priyanka Gandhi connect and everyday struggles, that’s the word on the street in this constituency where no Gandhi family member is contesting for the first time in 25 years.

“If Rahul Gandhi would have been here it would have been different. This is an unusually silent election. Nobody is divulging who they are supporting and for what reasons but this has been a Gandhi family stronghold,” said Ahmed Maqsood, who owns a tailoring shop in the Wahabganj market in Jais on the outskirts of Amethi town.

“The Ram temple has been constructed after 500 years of struggle. Our vote is for Ram temple and the BJP. Candidate does not matter, this is a national election,” added Amarnath Sharma, wearing a scarf with Jai Shri Ram embroidered on it, in the town’s main market.

Though Irani and Sharma are battling it out at the hustings, the spotlight is on Priyanka Gandhi as she leads her party’s charge in her family’s electoral fortress breached last time.

The Congress general secretary has been targeting Irani for coming to Amethi with the sole intention of defeating Rahul Gandhi and not for the development of the area or for the people.

The drama and suspense over the Amethi battle began early on. Though Irani was named in the BJP’s first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, the question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Rahul Gandhi would contest from Amethi again.

The Congress kept everyone guessing till the last minute and announced Sharma’s candidature only hours before nomination filing was to end. That Sharma has been an MP representative for the Gandhis and has worked in the area for over 40 years stands him in good stead.

The initial anticlimax soon wore off among the people as Priyanka Gandhi set shop in Rae Bareli vowing to win that constituency and wrest the family borough from where the party suffered the 2019 shock loss.

It may not be a direct Irani versus Rahul Gandhi ‘grudge match’ but it is certainly one that is shaping to be a memorable electoral battle.