A mere ripple in the grapevine about Rahul Gandhi visiting the Ram temple before filing his nomination from Amethi brought his conqueror and rival Smriti Irani haring down to the Ayodhya shrine on Sunday.

Speculation has been rife since Saturday that Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi might worship at the newly built temple and then file their nominations for the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats, respectively, for which candidates have not been announced yet.

Within a day, Smriti — re-nominated from Amethi by the BJP after defeating Rahul the last time — had rushed to the Ayodhya temple. She prayed at the shrine and applied tikas to the foreheads of several devotees.

The buzz about Rahul’s temple visit has caused jitters in the BJP, which has long painted the Congress as “anti-Hindu” and “anti-Ram temple” and had scaled up the attacks since the party leadership skipped the January 22 consecration ceremony.

The arrival of two SUVs bearing New Delhi registrations at the Gauriganj office of the Congress in Amethi on Saturday had intensified talk about Rahul contesting from the erstwhile family pocket borough.

Soon, Irani told an election meeting: “He (Rahul) refused the invitation to the Ram temple consecration but is now going to Ayodhya because there is an election. He remembers gods only during elections.”

The Congress brass had boycotted the January 22 ceremony accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having turned it into a political event.

Striking an overtly divisive note, Irani added: “After Ayodhya, he (Rahul) will visit Jayas (in Amethi) where his party worker Ishrat will read out the Kalma.”

BJP leaders identify Jayas with Muslims because it’s the birthplace of Sufi poet Malik Mohammad Jayasi, the 16th-century author of the epic poem Padmavat. It’s also home to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, one of several institutions built in Amethi and Rae Bareli under Congress rule.

Seeking anonymity, a local BJP leader from Amethi said: “We don’t know about any Congress worker named Ishrat, nor have we any information that Rahul will visit Jayas after Ayodhya. Irani is only trying to alert voters against the pro-Muslim Gandhis.”

Pradeep Singhal, Amethi district president of the Congress, was certain that Rahul would win this time if he contested from Amethi.

“The nominations start on Monday and will continue till Friday. Rahul’s name may be announced the day he files his nomination,” Singhal hoped.

Speaking off the record, a senior Congress leader in Lucknow said: “Winning Rae Bareli and Amethi, if Priyanka and Rahul contest from there, will be easy. The people want them there. We hope the Gandhi-Nehru family appreciates the wish of the people and our hard work.”

He added: “They should also stop Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra from creating confusion. Vadra is not acceptable to any Congressman.”

During a pilgrimage to Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, two days ago, Vadra had said: “The people want me to contest from there (Amethi). I have been active there since 1999 and worked for the election of Soniaji in 2004. Smriti Iraniji has not done any work for the people. She made several allegations against me but failed to prove any of them.”

Sonia was elected from Amethi in 1999 but it was Rahul who had contested and won in 2004.

Vadra had made similar comments about being the popular choice in Amethi a couple of weeks ago, too. The Congress leadership had not reacted.