BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Monday met former UP minister and Independent MLA Raja Bhaiyya, who is currently lodged in Bareilly jail, fuelling speculation about a possible political realignment in the state.
Raja Bhaiyya, who wields considerable influence in eastern UP, had come closer to the Samajwadi Party after he was targeted by the Mayawati government in 2002.
However, ideologically, he is closer to the BJP and his father Raja Uday Pratap Singh is a staunch VHP supporter. Raja Bhaiyya himself was considered a protégé of former BJP president Rajnath Singh and had played a key role in helping the Kalyan Singh government survive in 1997 when the BSP pulled out of the coalition.
Mr Varun Gandhi’s meeting with Raja Bhaiyya, however, comes at a time when the latter has severed all his ties with the BJP. The BJP, in fact, said that Mr Gandhi’s visit to Bareilly jail was “personal” and the party had nothing to do with it.
Political analysts however feel that the young BJP MP’s meeting with the independent legislator has more to it than meets the eye.
“Raja Bhaiyya belongs to a royal family and there are many such families who began their political journey with my father. Hence, my association with them is not just political and it is because of this that I have come here to meet him,” Mr Gandhi told reporters.
He said that the Mayawati government had targeted him in a similar manner and therefore he empathised with Raja Bhaiyya.
Raja Bhaiyya, it may be recalled, was arrested last month.