It would be almost criminal to waste a political talent like Priyanka Gandhi. As she showed during her campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareilly this time round, she is, if anything, sharper than her brother in picking rhetorical points and hammering them home, writes Kesava Menon. (Photo: PTI)
Wayanad is one of the safest constituencies for the United Democratic Front in Kerala. So much so that it would not be wise to bet against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra winning the by-election, whenever it may be held. What is puzzling is the fuss some people are kicking up ever since the Congress chose her as its nominee to contest the Lok Sabha seat vacated by her brother.
There is almost no reason why Ms Vadra — or more properly Priyanka, since that is a political identity she has earned — should not be her party’s candidate. Neither name nor face recognition is a problem as far as she is concerned. Her acceptability would have been very high even sight unseen and her presence on the local scene causes no dissonance.
Some of the most die-hard loyalists of the Nehru-Gandhi family are to be found among the Malabar Moplahs and the Indian Union Muslim League dominates three of the seven Assembly segments. Together with the sizeable number of Christians, in the other four segments, religious minorities make up half or more of the electorate in Wayanad. Hindus here are also far from monolithic in voting behaviour. While the vote share of the BJP has grown, it is still far behind the Left Democratic Front, which itself is far behind the UDF.
Given the demographics of the constituency, the Congress does not need to put up a politician with local knowledge and contacts who could socially engineer Wayanad into a stronghold. It already is one and will so remain until the Congress in some future fit of insanity nominates someone totally unacceptable.
To go by the list published during the just-concluded Lok Sabha campaign of questions asked and submissions made in Parliament, as well as anecdotal evidence, Kerala has been blessed by a fairly active bunch of representatives. One or two who failed to perform were culled this time. But the state does not have 20 Shashi Tharoors who can debate forcefully on pan-India issues or others of similar import. A few who can, such as Ramesh Chennithala, have thus far shown a marked preference for state politics.
That being so, it would be almost criminal to waste a political talent like Priyanka. As she showed during her campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareilly this time round, she is, if anything, sharper than her brother in picking rhetorical points and hammering them home.
It is possible to argue that Priyanka and her sibling could have switched so that he retained Wayanad and she fought in Rae Bareilly. Such an arrangement would have left Rahul Gandhi secure in a safe seat while he carried out national duties for his party. But the man has to mark out greater space for himself in Uttar Pradesh politics in order to increase his heft at the national level. He also needs to spend more time in Akhilesh Yadav’s bailiwick to nourish a partnership that promises much.
The writer is former editor of ‘Mathrubhumi’
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First uploaded on: 20-06-2024 at 13:19 IST
