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For Maneka Gandhi, there is no other reason for her son Varun Gandhi not getting the BJP ticket from Pilibhit other than his posts on X, formerly Twitter -- which were somewhat critical of the government. In an interview with news agency PTI, Maneka said she could not think of any other reason for Varun not being repeated by the party.
As a mother, she said she felt bad that Varun was replaced by Jitin Prasada but it was the party's decision. "I am sure Varun will do very well even without a ticket," Maneka Gandhi said adding that she felt that Varun should have been there.
Maneka Gandhi said Varun wants to campaign for her but no decision has been taken on this yet.(PTI)
Maneka's seat Sultanpur will go to the polls on May 25 in the sixth round of the election and Varun Gandhi may campaign for her. Varun wants to come for campaigning but a decision regarding this has not been taken yet, Maneka said.
Pilibhit voted in the first phase on April 19 in the three-cornered contest between BJP's Jitin Prasada, Samajwadi Party's Bhagwant Saran Gangwar and Bahujan Samaj Party's Anis Ahmed Khan. It was speculated that Varun Gandhi may jump into the fray as an independent candidate but Varun Gandhi distanced himself from the 2024 Lok Sabha election -- neither contesting independently nor from any other party.
Varun Gandhi was not seen in Pilibhit after he was denied the ticket. He did not attend the rallies of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After being denied the ticket, he wrote an emotional letter to the people of Pilibhit in which he recounted the first time he came to Pilibhit in 1983 as a three-year-old.
"Today, when I am writing this letter, countless memories have made me emotional. I remember that little three-year-old child who came to Pilibhit for the first time in 1983 holding the fingers of his mother. Little did he know that one day this land would become his work place and the people here would become his family," his letter read.
"The ideals given by Pilibhit were instrumental in my upbringing and development not only as an MP but also as a person. Being your representative has been the greatest honour of my life and I have always raised my voice for your interests to the best of my ability," he said.
"If not as an MP, then at least as a son, I am committed to serve you throughout my life and my doors will always remain open for you as before. I came into politics to raise the voice of the common man and today I seek your blessings to continue doing this work always. Even if I have to pay any cost for this," Varun added.
Pilibhit has a long association with Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi and this was the first time that none of them contested from here. Maneka Gandhi won Pilibhit on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989, lost in 1991 and won again in 1996. She won from the constituency again in 1998 and 1999 as an Independent candidate. She won the seat in 2004 and 2014 as a BJP candidate.
Varun Gandhi won the seat in 2009 and 2019 as a BJP candidate.
Source: Maneka Gandhi on why Varun was dropped from Pilibhit: 'Can't think of other reason'