The message to party leaders and members is that the BJP benches a number of sitting MPs

Senior Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Varun Gandhi was “most welcome” to join his party after the BJP chose Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada to represent Pilibhit in the Lok Sabha.

In addition, Chowdhury said that Varun was dumped by the BJP because he was a member of the Gandhi family.

“Varun Gandhi needs to enlist in Congress. If he joins, we will be delighted. He is a tall, intelligent politician and leader. He has ties to the Gandhi family and projects an air of honesty. For this reason, he was not granted a ticket by the BJP. Varun Gandhi should become a member of the Congress, Chowdhury was quoted as saying.

But it says volumes about the BJP and its message for its MPs and members that his mother, Maneka Gandhi, has been nominated from Sultanpur, the seat she now represents.

The BJP has already dismissed 100 sitting members.

The BJP has removed at least 25%, or around 100, of its current Members of Parliament from the six lists it has given so far for the 405 Lok Sabha seats.

Even though sources indicate that a similar tactic was used in 2019, it is anticipated that more sitting members will not be deployed this time.

Per observers, Varun was given a “long rope” by the party in spite of his statements criticising the top leadership and their choices. The takeaway at this point is that he has to either change his ways and work for the party or prepare to be benched indefinitely.

The BJP’s decision to keep Maneka on board is equivalent to offering Varun another opportunity to repent or change his behaviour. Even though he had been offered the greatest jobs and possibilities, no party would have accepted the type of remarks he had been making. They state, “He has a long rope, and that is a fact for someone with no mass connection.”

Varun Gandhi has expressed criticism of Yogi Adityanath’s UP administration and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Centre government on a number of subjects. No matter their “so-called popularity or seniority,” sources claim that MPs who overreached, humiliated the leadership with their remarks, or lost contact with party workers were dismissed.

It is not a right to get a ticket.

As a matter of fact, the BJP has disregarded a number of prominent figures, even those who would be regarded as “winnable candidates”—the deciding factor in the selection process.

Leaders from Delhi, such as Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Verma, and Ramesh Bidhuri, are among them. As a matter of fact, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, six out of the seven incumbent Members of Parliament from Delhi were removed for a variety of reasons, despite their combined vote share of 56.9%.

Maneka and Varun have also represented Pilibhit on many occasions.

Varun, who won Pilibhit twice—in 2009 and 2019—took Maneka’s seat. He ran in Sultanpur in 2014; Maneka Gandhi won the seat in 2019.

According to observers, the message is quite clear: the “party symbol ‘lotus’ is the only candidate,” and all candidates get into the Lok Sabha by capitalising on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

“While unseating the current candidate could be a tactic to combat anti-incumbency, it has much more significance for the BJP. Additionally, it implies that “lotus” is the one contender for which leaders and labourers should focus. There are always new candidates, and nobody is in a position to demand tickets. They continue, “Several previous chief ministers and Rajya Sabha members have been fielded this time because everyone is equal, whether a CM or some other well-known figure.

In the end, attention must be directed at PM Modi and his “welfare schemes and achievements.”.