With Rahul Gandhi out of the race, Amethi a walkover for Smriti Irani?

Battleground Amethi. Once a bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, now virtually abandoned by Congress' first family. Sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Smriti Irani, now, has a 'home' ground advantage.

The Lok Sabha constituency covers the entire Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh.

A number of Gandhi family members — Sanjay, Rajiv, Sonia and Rahul — have been elected to the Parliament from this heartland seat. Rahul Gandhi himself represented the constituency for three straight terms from 2004, only to lose — by a close margin of 55,000 votes — to Irani in 2019.

For the first time since 1999, Congress has fielded a non-Gandhi from Amethi, party loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma.

KL Sharma is supposed to be an outsider, who hails from Ludhiana, but has been instrumental to the party's local unit for almost four decades.

He is said to have moved to Amethi in 1987, as a close aide of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, at a time when he represented the seat. Reports suggest he played a crucial role in helping Sonia get elected from Amethi in 1999.

While continuing to manage party affairs in the district during Rahul's three terms, Sharma is said to have concentrated on Raebareli as Sonia’s manager in recent years.

Will Sharma be able to capitalise on his on-ground presence and familiarity with the voters disgruntled with inflation and unemployment? Reports suggest Priyanka Gandhi may lead the campaign to make up for Rahul's absence from the district since his defeat in 2019. But the Congress has a lot of ground to cover.

They're up against Irani, a union minister, who has literally set up home base in Amethi.

She kicked off her reelection bid last month with the gruh pravesh of her new house in the district. Now, Irani is not just the candidate, but also a voter from the seat.

The campaign team has plans for Irani to cover the entire constituency twice before Amethi goes to polls in phase 5 (May 20) of the Parliamentary elections. The BJP's political machinery has been at work on ground for over a month, and has left no stone unturned.

Irani was quick to taunt Rahul for running 'scared' and fielding a 'proxy' from the seat. "Gandhi family not contesting from Amethi in itself is an indication that Congress has accepted defeat even before elections," she said.

Will the narrative that the Gandhis are scared of a rematch and have abandoned ship ensure a walkover for Irani? Or will the Gandhi loyalist manage to put up a fight, and wrest the erstwhile fortress back for Congress?

The results will be declared after all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections on June 4.