BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s prolonged absence form Uttar Pradesh politics has started irking party cadres and legislators who are seeking re-election are getting increasingly restive.
Mr Gandhi has stopped visiting Uttar Pradesh — except for his own constituency — since June this year when the BJP national executive was held in Lucknow. The party leadership has also consistently ignored the young MP who, in the part two years, has emerged as one of the BJP’s most charismatic leaders and also one of the biggest crowdpullers. Mr Gandhi was nowhere to be seen during the recent yatras taken out by the BJP.
“It seems that our leaders are deliberately sidelining Varun Gandhi because they fear that he will steal the limelight from them. It is shameful that at a time when all parties are promoting young leadership, the BJP is pushing back its youth leaders. We cannot expect 70-year-olds in our party to match up to the energies of youth leaders in the Congress, SP and even the RLD,” said a BJP MLA from eastern UP.
Prospective candidates from the BJP in UP are already clamouring for Mr Varun Gandhi — more so, after Ms Uma Bharti’s debut in state politics failed to strike a chord among the people and most of her programmes flopped.
Contestants are now desperately seeking out a leader who can pull in the crowds and whose charisma can get them votes in the coming elections. Mr Varun Gandhi fits the bill perfectly. “If Varun Gandhi campaigns in the polls, he can easily increase the party’s tally by 20-25 seats because he is hugely popular among the youth,” ,” said a BJP leader from Kanpur.
. Moreover, his anti-BSP stance is perfectly in tune with the mood of the party cadres. His absence in the elections will cost the BJP dear and I hope our leaders realise this,” said a BJP leader from Kanpur.
Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader admitted on condition of anonymity that a section of the party’s “top leadership” wanted to “put down” Mr Varun Gandhi because they perceived him as a threat to their own existence.
“It is unfortunate that at a time when we would be promoting this boy, we are actually trying to put him down because some of us feel he will overtake us. In any case, if he has the potential, he will overtake us sooner than later and we must learn to accept this,” the ageing leader said.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Mr Gandhi refused to comment on these developments but admitted that his absence from party functions in UP was due to “certain circumstances”.