Non-inclusion in BJP National Executive doesn’t reduce my stature: Maneka Gandhi

Days after failing to find a place in the BJP national executive committee, MP Maneka Gandhi on Monday said she is satisfied to be in the party for 20 years and that her non-inclusion in the panel does not reduce her stature.

"I am satisfied to be in the BJP for 20 years. Not being in the executive does not reduce one's stature. My first religion is to serve. It is more important that I get a place in the hearts of people,” Gandhi said when asked about not including her name along with that of her son and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi in the party executive committee.

Maneka Gandhi is on a two-day visit to her parliamentary constituency here.

“There are other senior leaders who also have not got a place in the executive committee. New people should also get an opportunity. I am aware of my duties and serving the people of my constituency is my first duty,” she stressed.

The BJP had recently announced its 80-member national executive with the likes of Varun Gandhi and Birender Singh, who have taken a sympathetic stand with farmers protesting against the Centre's three agri laws, and Maneka Gandhi being among those replaced with a new crop of leaders.

The development comes at a time when opposition parties are targeting the ruling BJP over the killing of eight people, including four farmers, in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. Varun Gandhi had posted a purported video of the incident and said that the protesters cannot be silenced through murder.

"The video is very clear. Protesters cannot be silenced through murder. There should be accountability for the blood of innocent farmers and justice should be given before the message of arrogance and cruelty enters the mind of every farmer,” the Pilibhit MP had tweeted.

He had also written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding immediate identification of suspects of the incident and registration of murder case and investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of the Supreme Court.