Varun Gandhi Says Associates on the Final Day of Pilibhit Nomination Filing He Won’t Run in the Lok Sabha Elections
When the Lok Sabha elections start next month, would Varun Gandhi not run? That’s what close allies of the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party and his personal staff in Pilibhit have said. Varun’s aides claim they haven’t gotten any orders from him as of Wednesday, the final day to file nominations for candidates running in the first round of the seven-round Lok Sabha elections.
Varun’s name was removed off the BJP’s fifth list of candidates for the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat he now represents in northeastern Uttar Pradesh. Jitin Prasada, a former Congress politician, took Varun’s place. However, Maneka Gandhi, Varun’s mother, has been kept in her Sultanpur seat. Sources claim that Varun’s “anti-party reactions” over the last several years are what prompted the BJP to take this step.
THE BJP’S “SURPRISE” STEP
The BJP’s action caused a stir in the political circles of Uttar Pradesh and added credence to the rumors that Varun may relocate to Amethi or Raebareli, run as an independent, and back the Congress.
Some analysts surmised that he may run for office alone from Pilibhit, while others said he could join the Congress. Following senior Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s statement that Varun Gandhi was welcome to join the party, the excitement intensified. Additionally, there were rumors that Varun will defect from Pilibhit and join the Samajwadi Party (SP). When the SP declared Bhagwat Saran Gangwar as its Pilibhit candidate, these rumors, however, stopped.
“HE IS NOT IN PILIBHIT, BUT IN DELHI.”
It seemed improbable that Varun Gandhi will compete in upcoming Lok Sabha elections, close aides to the politician informed News18. The deadline for submitting nominations is today. However, we have not received any directives from him. Furthermore, he is in Delhi and not in Pilibhit, one of them told News18.
Four sets of nomination papers were obtained by Varun’s agents last week for the Pilibhit seat. The partner said, “The BJP has lost a firebrand young leader, so it’s more of a loss for them.”
“ANTI-PARTY STANCE”
According to insiders, Varun Gandhi could have paid a price for his “anti-party reactions” to problems including poverty, inflation, unemployment, and violence in Lakhimpur Kheri. According to a BJP insider, “local BJP workers were not very happy with his behaviour.”
He called for the arrest of those responsible for the Lakhimpur Kheri event in 2021, in which farmers were protesting when a car purportedly driven by the son of BJP politician and federal minister Ajay Mishra Teni, Ashish, ran over the protesters. Varun attacked the Yogi Adityanath administration of Uttar Pradesh in September 2023 after a patient’s death resulted in the suspension of the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital’s license in Amethi, which bears his father’s name.
IN A 35-YEAR LEGACY, SHIFT?
In 1989, Maneka Gandhi won her first Lok Sabha seat from Pilibhit while running on a Janata Dal ticket. She was defeated by BJP candidate Parshuram Gangwar in 1991, but she came back to win the seat in 1996 while running under the Janata Dal banner. Following this, she ran as an independent in 1998, 1999, and 2004 and maintained her winning streak.
Her son Varun won Pilibhit on a BJP ticket in 2009, marking his debut. Maneka Gandhi won the seat on a BJP ticket in 2014, and Varun won it again in 2019 on a BJP ticket.
