'Experienced player of politics & chess': How Congress is defending Rahul Gandhi as he contests from Raebareli instead of Amethi
The Congress party has fielded Rahul Gandhi from his mother Sonia Gandhi's former constituency of Raebareli instead of his traditional seat of Amethi
prativad 
Amid criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the decision to field Rahul Gandhi on Raebareli Lok Sabha seat instead of Amethi, the party has come to the defence of its scion. Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh hailed him as an “an experienced player of politics and chess” and said it was part of the larger strategy of Congress.
For weeks, there had been speculation that Rahul would contest from either Amethi or Raebareli in addition to Kerala’s Wayanad where he is seeking a reelection this time. He had held the Amethi seat from 2004 to 2019. In 2019, BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated him in Amethi.
After Rahul’s candidature from Raebareli was announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he had “run away” from his older seat.
In a bid to mount a counter-offensive, Ramesh took a jibe at Irani and said that her only identity is that she contests against Rahul. Now that she would not be facing Rahul in polls, she would be irrelevant, said Ramesh.
“Today, Smriti Irani’s only identity is that she contests elections from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Now, her political relevance is over. Instead of making meaningless statements, Smriti Irani will now have to answer about local development: closed hospitals, steel plants and IIITs,” said Ramesh in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
