Now, willy-nilly, news is swirling around Rahul Gandhi even as the elections are getting hotter and hotter with the seasonal winds. Also, the BJP has acknowledged that Rahul Gandhi is the main opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi though Rahul Gandhi's challenge to Modi for an American presidential-style debate has been rejected. Instead of picking up the gauntlet, BJP threw in the towel with the meaningless “Rahul, who?”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi prefers what are being called “staged interviews” with assorted editors-in-chief. This, when Rahul Gandhi’s utterances are dominating the airwaves ever since his debate challenge to Modi went viral. Gandhi added to the excitement with the comment that come June 4, Modi wouldn’t be Prime Minister of India anymore. None of the “editors-in-chief” thought of asking Modi for a response, but Union Home Minister Amit Shah took up cudgels for the Prime Minister.

Rahul Gandhi filed nomination for Raebareli on May 3 with family in tow and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also present in the building. But voters aren't happy as successive Gandhis have been neglecting showing their faces in the constituency after winning the elections. It has come to the stage where Rahul Gandhi cannot take victory for granted like his mother Sonia Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi could.

Now, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has trained guns on Rahul Gandhi and Shah is ten times the adversary Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019 from the neighbouring Amethi parliamentary constituency, ever was. As things stand, neither Raebareli nor Amethi remain Gandhi family strongholds and Amit Shah's five questions for Rahul Gandhi are meant to blunt Rahul Gandhi's Raebareli campaign.

Shah spent a day in Raebareli during which he met Manoj Pande, an influential 'Brahmin' leader in a parliamentary constituency with 11 percent Brahmins, at Pande's residence where Shah also had "bhojan". Shah's questions to Rahul Gandhi included one on triple talaq, "was it good or bad? Rahul baba, answer the people of Rae Bareli whether you want to bring back triple talaq?" Two, "instead of Muslim personal law, should there be a Uniform Civil Code or not? They say you will bring (back) Muslim personal law."

Three, "Modiji conducted the surgical strikes, was it good or bad? Rahul baba raises questions on surgical strikes. Want to ask him, do you support the surgical strikes or not?"

Shah also asked "why did you not go to the Ram temple in Ayodhya after the 'Pran Pratishtha'? "Rahul baba should also tell the people of Raebareli whether he supports the abrogation of Article 370? Rahul baba should answer these five questions" and only then seek votes from the voters of Raebareli.

Sonia Gandhi was Raebareli MP for the last two decades. Rahul Gandhi faces an Uttar Pradesh minister, Dinesh Pratap Singh, from the constituency, where polling will be held on May 20 in the fifth phase. Rahul Gandhi is not going to answer any of Shah's five questions. The Congress leader's stand on all the five issues raised by Shah is already in the public domain and would have been up for discussion if there was a Modi-Rahul debate.

But Rahul Gandhi has more pressing things to do. With Sonia Gandhi opting for the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament, the onus is on Rahul Gandhi to represent "north India'' from the family. There is also the anti-incumbency Sonia Gandhi has thrust on him. Rahul Gandhi began his Raebareli campaign on May 13 with the hope that "13 is lucky for some" and Rahul Gandhi could do with all the luck coming his way.

Rahul’s Monday visit to Raebareli was the first after filing nomination on May 3. Four public meetings in Bachhrawa, Harchandpur, Sareni and Unchahar were in his itinerary. In his absence, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was holding fort, addressing 30 public meetings in the constituency. Priyanka has also been campaigning in Amethi where Union minister Smriti Irani is facing Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist since 1983.

Rahul chose Raebareli over Amethi, which didn’t surprise anyone, least of all members of his family. But why would the son choose a constituency the mother chose to dump because of the fear of losing? Raebareli voters famously accuse Sonia Gandhi of never visiting the constituency after winning in 2019. In fact, Sonia Gandhi’s presence in Raebareli has been as rare as Rahul Gandhi’s attendance in Parliament.

The axe now might fall on Rahul Gandhi’s chances of victory. Will he turn out to be an absent warrior if he wins? The question dogs his campaign, which the BJP has picked up even as Rahul Gandhi is battling the backlash to Sonia’s absence from the constituency throughout her tenure. Raebareli voters have seen the positive changes in neighbouring Amethi following Rahul Gandhi's defeat at the hands of Smriti Irani.

Irani’s accomplishments of five years are inducements for the Raebareli electorate. They’re also a reflection on Rahul Gandhi’s performance as an MP. Rahul Gandhi was elected Amethi MP not once but again and again, and again. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is campaigning in Amethi, too, but even she chose not to contest from Amethi. Will Rahul Gandhi get an innings from Raebareli, once represented by Indira Gandhi and other Nehru-Gandhi luminaries long gone from Raebareli? (IPA Service)