Last Day Of Nomination In Pilibhit Today; Varun Gandhi Ends Speculations Over His Candidature

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped incumbent MP Varun Gandhi from the Pilibhit seat in Uttar Pradesh. The party, however, fielded his mother and senior leader Maneka Gandhi from the Sultanpur seat. Since today is the last day of nomination from Varun Gandhi's turf Pilibhit, people were speculating that he may contest the polls independently. Even, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury invited him to join Congress. Chowdhury said that Varun Gandhi has a clean image and he should contest the polls on a Congress ticket.

Varun Gandhi To Contest 2024 Polls?

Varun Gandhi is well aware of the political developments and has decided to not contest the polls this time. He said that he would not contest Lok Sabha polls from the Pilibhit seat and instead would campaign for his mother Maneka Gandhi from the Sultanpur seat. In 2014, Maneka Gandhi won the seat while Varun bagged the Sultanpur seat. In 2019, the BJP swapped the seat between the two and Varun Gandhi bagged the Pilibhit seat and Maneka Sultanpur seat. This time, the BJP has fielded Jitin Prasada from the Pilibhit seat. Former Congress leader Prasada joined the BJP in 2021.

Why BJP Replaced Varun Gandhi

Varun Gandhi has been a high-profile BJP leader but lately, he disagreed with some of the party policies and even publicly expressed his opposition to the same. The issues included the farmers' protest and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which four farmers lost their lives. While Varun rose in the BJP under Rajnath Singh, he is now finding himself sidelined. However, his decision to not contest the polls and rather campaign for his mother will send out a signal that he is not opposed to the party but some of the policies. Thus, there may be another opportunity waiting for him in the future.