Now Smriti Irani to trail Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad

Thiruvananthapuram, April 30

After bringing down Rahul Gandhi at Amethi, Smriti Irani is all set to land in Wayanad next week, the constituency that the Congress leader had won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

According to sources in the know of things, Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, is coming with a mission to take on Rahul Gandhi, especially with the Wayanad district having the largest population of tribals in the state and their condition continues to rot, despite the numerous schemes that the Centre has for their upliftment.

According to the 2011 Census, the Scheduled Tribe population in Kerala is 4,84,839 (1.5 per cent of the total population). And Wayanad district has the highest number of tribals at 1,51,443.

Incidentally, it was actor-politician Suresh Gopi, a nominated member of the Upper House whose term ended this month, who in his last few speeches in the Parliament raised the issue of how centrally sponsored schemes for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden and for the SC/ST communities in Kerala are not getting due attention, giving the impetus to Irani to make a visit to Wayanad.

Irani is expected to go around the tribal colonies and is likely to be in Wayanad for one or two days. She is likely to use most of her time to take on Rahul Gandhi and his absence from the constituency.