Maneka sole Gandhi in fray as of now; Varun bids farewell to Pilibhit

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 28

Senior-most parliamentarian of the outgoing Lok Sabha Maneka Gandhi is the sole Gandhi family representative in the fray so far with son Varun formally bowing out of the poll race on Thursday.

In an emotional letter to the people of Pilibhit, whom he represents in the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha, Varun said, “My relationship with Pilibhit is one of trust and affection. It is far beyond the remit of electoral politics. I was, am and will remain yours.”

Varun’s letter to his constituents was reminiscent of aunt Sonia Gandhi’s similar farewell message to Rae Bareli in which she announced her decision to quit the LS race and shift to the Rajya Sabha.

Like Sonia who wrote to Rae Bareli voters, “I am sure you will stand by my family like you always have,” Varun too evoked family legacy as he said, “Today as I pen my thoughts, I remember a three-year-old who came to Pilibhit for the first time in 1983, holding his mother’s hand …I did not know then that Pilibhit would become my family.”

This is for the first time in 35 years that Maneka and her son Varun would be absent from the political landscape of UP’s Pilibhit after Varun bowed out gracefully following BJP’s denial of a nomination to him in favour of former minister Jitin Prasada.

The BJP, however, fielded eight-term MP Maneka from her current seat of Sultanpur in UP.

Maneka won Pilibhit for the first time in 1989 as a Janata Dal nominee; lost in 1991 and wrested it back in 1996. She again won the segment in 1998 and 1999 as an Independent and in 2004 and 2014 as a BJP candidate.

In 2009 and 2019, Varun bagged the seat for the BJP.

After over three decades today, Maneka and Varun will be absent from Pilibhit with Varun today telling his constituents, “My tenure as MP may have ended but my relationship with Pilibhit will continue till the last breath. Representing Pilibhit has been my greatest honour. If not as an MP, I will continue to serve you as a son.”

Varun also sought Pilibhit’s blessings to “continue raising the voice of common persons no matter what the cost.”

Varun Gandhi had publicly opposed his own government’s Agnipath scheme and earlier supported the farmers’ agitation that ended with the withdrawal of three agricultural reform laws by the BJP dispensation.