In Pilibhit, Varun alienates Kurmis

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Pilibhit, April 22

A day before polling, a video of BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi assuring Muslims voters they could approach him for work, even if they had decided not to vote for him, went viral on the social media today. Varun is desperately wooing Muslims with a sizeable Kurmi/ Patel voters in his constituency up in arms against him, say sources.

A senior Kurmi journalist with a reputed national Hindi daily was reportedly  made to resign after he filed a report on a notice issued by the BSNL to Varun for non-payment of bills amounting to Rs 38,000. In a letter dated March 30, the BSNL had asked the Pilibhit Returning Officer to take appropriate action against the candidate for filing his nomination without the mandatory ‘no dues’ certificate.

After the Pilibhit bureau chief filed the story, his Bareilly edition editor asked him to get the version of all stakeholders. “I spoke to the Pilibhit RO who refused to comment. As Varun Gandhi was not available, I spoke with his OSD and filed a report again. But Varun Gandhi learnt about it and apparently put pressure on the group editor,” the journalist said.

The story was not used. The journalist was summoned to Bareilly where he was asked to submit his resignation. Shocked, he narrated the incident on his social media account. As he belongs to the Kurmi community, its members called a meeting to condemn the BJP candidate’s ‘arm-twisting’ tactics. An alarmed Varun managed to enlist the support of the head of another Kurmi body, Bhanu Pratap Singh. But members of this body cornered him and forced him to quit.

On April 15, hundreds of influential Kurmi leaders, including Zila Parishad members, Block Development Council members and retired officials and teachers held a meeting in the city’s Venkat Hall where a resolution was passed to oppose Varun Gandhi in the polls.

The Indian Journalist Union has condemned the “forced resignation” under political pressure and the matter has reached the Press Council of India.

The Kurmis constitute almost half of the five lakh OBC voters in the constituency and have traditionally voted for the BJP. In 2009, when Varun contested from Pilibhit, a case was filed against him for a “provocative” speech against Muslims at a meeting at Dalchand Mohalla area of Pilibhit. He was, however,  acquitted later.

On March 5, 2013, a Pilibhit court acquitted Varun Gandhi in another hate speech case filed against him during the 2009 Lok Sabha electioneering. Pilibhit goes to polls tomorrow.