Lok Sabha elections: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its new list of 111 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from which Varun Gandhi's name was missing from Pilibhit and former Union Minister Jitin Prasad has been fielded in his place. However, the party has once again expressed confidence in Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur. Varun Gandhi had been making statements against the party for the last few years, after which it was almost certain that his ticket would be cancelled.
Varun Gandhi's statements went against him
Gradually, a time came when BJP leader Varun Gandhi was seen attacking his party more harshly than his opponents. Varun Gandhi had raised questions on the Yogi Adityanath's governance regarding the management of the coronavirus epidemic. After this, in 2020, Varun Gandhi was also seen against his party on three controversial agricultural laws of the Centre. Later those laws were withdrawn by the government. After this, the Gandhi son continued to corner BJP government on employment and health issues. After the license of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Amethi was suspended in September 2023, Varun had termed it as 'outrage against a name'.
On Farm laws: "More than 700 farmer brothers and sisters have been martyred in this movement as they peacefully protested in extremely difficult and hostile conditions. If this decision had been taken earlier, innocent lives would not have been lost," he said.
On Agniveer: Varun had hit out at the Agnipath scheme for not provisioning pensions to the Agniveers. He said that if public representatives, who serve for five years can get pension then why the provision was not made for the youth who would join the army under Agnipath scheme?
On Coronavirus management in UP: In 2021 he said, "Given Uttar Pradesh's limited healthcare systems, we have to honestly decide whether our priority is to stop the spread of the dreaded Omicron or show electoral power."
On youth plight: Talking about Railway Group D exam, Varun Gandhi tweeted, “First, there is no government job, yet if some chance comes, the paper gets leaked, if you give the exam, you don't have the result for years, then get cancelled in some scam. 1.25 Crore youth of Railway Group D are waiting for the results for two years. The same is true of recruitment in the army. Till when should the youth of India be patient?”
When Varun was famous in posters and social media
Before the National Executive meeting held in Prayagraj in 2016, large posters of Varun Gandhi with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah had become a topic of discussion across the city. Apart from this, such campaigns were also being run on social media in which Varun Gandhi was being seen as the next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In a party like the BJP, where more emphasis is given to the decisions of the organisation, such publicity stunts create a stir. Varun Gandhi was also in the news at that time due to his statements and many times his statements were seen against the party.
Varun Gandhi was once the rising star of BJP
It was not long before Varun Gandhi was considered the rising star of the BJP, and people saw in him the image of his father Sanjay Gandhi. His name was even tossed as a possible Chief Minister after BJP's landslide victory in the 2017 UP Assembly elections, but Yogi Adityanath took the chair. Earlier in 2013, he was made the National General Secretary of BJP and was also given the charge of West Bengal, but he did not show any special interest in the work of the organisation. In 2014, he got the Lok Sabha ticket from Sultanpur and won, but soon his stance started appearing contrary to the party through his controversial statements.
Speculation about Varun's political future
Now speculations are being made about the political future of Varun Gandhi. Speculations are also rife about him joining Congress or Samajwadi Party, but till now these things have proved to be mere speculations. Even all the political pundits do not seem to be in a position to tell what will be Varun Gandhi's future stance. Now that it is clear that Varun Gandhi is not going to contest the Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket this time, his future looks bleak.
ALSO READ: 'Varun Gandhi most welcome to join us': Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury after BJP drops him from list
