Sultanpur: Firebrand BJP MP from Sultanpur Varun Feroz Gandhi, once a top contender for the post of Chief Minister and a bigger crowed puller than Akhilesh-Rahul duo, is conspicuous by his absence in crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. It is understood that Mr Gandhi, miffed over being marginalised by the party, has preferred to stay away from campaigning even in his own constituency which has only four more days for campaigning.
Five assembly segments under Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in the fifth phase of polling on February 27, where campaigning will end on Saturday next. That, all is not well for Mr Gandhi in the BJP was evident when his name was missing in the first list of 40 star campaigners issued by the party in January. His name, along with that of Vinay Katiyar, was included in the second list of star campaigners. When asked, state BJP president Keshav Maurya said since he was busy in campaigning, he had no information about Mr Gandhi. "I am too busy in campaigning, the party has included him in the list of star campaigners but I have no information about him’’. "There must be some personal reason behind him not campaigning for the party," he added. Party district president of Sultanpur Jagjit Singh Changu said, "I have no information about his tour programme.
He is a big leader and he will come on his own whenever he is needed for the campaigning." The BJP sources said Mr Gandhi is now a 'pariah' in the BJP and Sultanpur wants to be identified with him. The sources also indicated that Varun may face the axe in 2019 Lok Sabha electiond and denied the party ticket. The rise of Narendra Modi in the BJP heralded the 'Acche din' for the saffron party, but 'bure din' for Mr Gandhi. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Gandhi maintained distance from the election rallies of Mr Modi in UP. During one election meeting in Sultanpur in 2014, he had publicly rebuked a party worker for raising slogan of 'Narendra Modi zindabad.'
At one point, Mr Gandhi was also said to be close to his cousin Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra. But his mother Menaka Gandhi campaigned in her parliamentary constituency Pilibhit and some adjoining places where elections were held in the first two phases. After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Varun failed to find a berth in the BJP’s organisational team headed by Amit Shah and he was divested of the post of general secretary and member of the national executive. Marginalised in the party, Varun stepped up his activities in UP and mobilised financial assistance for the debt ridden farmers of West and Central UP. He also extended financial help to the farmers ravaged by the perennial floods in Tarai areas of UP—Sitapur, Bahriach and Lakhimpur Kheri. (UNI)