Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Wayanad trip triggers standby buzz

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday made his first visit, post-disqualification from the Lok Sabha, to his former Parliamentary constituency of Wayanad in Kerala but what triggered a buzz in Congress circles was the fact that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanied her brother. Many in the Congress now wonder whether this is part of a plan to keep Vadra as a standby option in case Gandhi's legal case lingers in the courts and if EC announces a byelection from Wayanad in between.

The siblings reached Wayanad by Tuesday afternoon to an impressive welcome from the Congress-led UDF leaders and supporters and the top functionaries of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which commands the main chunk of the UDF base in Wayanad LS constituency. They travelled in an open truck on which Gandhi-Vadra stood to greet supporters. After BJP breached Amethi and is now vowing to wrest Raebareli, and with the SP leadership announcing that it won't leave the two seats uncontested anymore, Wayanad is arguably the only risk-free seat for the Gandhis now.

While Congress officially maintains confidence in Gandhi getting legal reprieve in time to avert any byelection and his stint in Wayanad continuing towards the 2024 polls, yet Congress and UDF circles are naturally thinking about contingency plans in the eventuality of a byelection and thus they read into Vadra's supporting role to Gandhi in Wayanad, even though there is no dearth of local Congress leaders who too can hold the seat in the event of a bypoll.