A few weeks back, state Congress leaders in southern India were seen desperately urging Rahul Gandhi to fight from a supposedly ‘safe seat’ in their states as a face-saver, should he lose Amethi to Smriti Irani. Sensing an imposing challenge Smriti Irani had mounted for him in Amethi, Rahul obliged to his senior leaders and agreed to fight the elections from Wayanad seat, apart from Amethi. On April 4, Rahul Gandhi filed nomination from Wayanad.
However, though the decision of Rahul Gandhi fighting from the ‘safe seat’ of Wayanad was declared just a few days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, an official Twitter account dedicated to Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad office was created in September 2018 itself.
The official Twitter account of Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad office is @RGWayanadOffice, which is a verified Twitter account with a blue tick. This means that this account is actually run by Rahul Gandhi’s election office in Wayanad, and not an imposter account. A cursory glance of the Twitter account reveals that the account was in existence since September 2018. This makes one wonder whether Rahul Gandhi had already considered losing Amethi as a foregone conclusion and decided to contest from another seat six months ago? The account’s existence since September 2018 suggests that, perhaps, the Congress leadership along with Rahul Gandhi must have decided in advance about Rahul Gandhi’s electoral battle from the ‘safe seat’ of Wayanad in September 2018 itself.
Another noteworthy fact is what while Rahul Gandhi is contesting from two seats in the Lok Sabha elections, only Wayanad officer has a dedicated official Twitter account, there is no such Twitter account for Amethi, which Rahul Gandhi is representing for the last 15 years.
The Wayanad office Twitter account’s September 2018 origin also insinuate that the recent clamouring from the state Congress leaders of southern units may be subject to a well-orchestrated chain of events designed to feign authenticity in their demands for the Congress President to fight from one of the ‘safe-seats’ in their states and play down the Smriti Irani factor which is reputedly considered as the primary reason for Rahul Gandhi’s southern India retreat.