Should Smriti Irani take on Rahul Gandhi at Wayanad as well?

Should Smriti Irani take on Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad as well? Speculation is rife that the saffron party is pushing hard to bring Smriti Irani to fight against Rahul Gandhi.

The move, calculated to re-energise the grand old party in the south that sends 130 seats to the lower House, has undoubtedly cheered the Congress cadre in Kerala.

Further, it will give avoidable fodder to Irani to run a campaign that the Congress president is afraid of losing his Amethi seat. Irani has indeed emerged as a formidable challenger to the Gandhi scion in Amethi long considered a Congress bastion.

No wonder, there is a muted feeling in the Congress that some leaders misled Rahul into the Wayanad slugfest.

Wayanad with roughly 50% Hindus and 28.65% Muslims and over 21% Christians is always seen as the Congress's most assured seat in the entire south. The Congress president taking on the Left candidate in Kerala is even more pernicious as it has ideological connotations.

The BJP is not a big player anywhere in the south, so the high-profile Congress-Left clash in God's own country will be a saffron delight. What do you say?