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Adhir Ranjan makes offer to Varun Gandhi

The BJP on Sunday announced its fifth list of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, dropping Varun Gandhi from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and retaining his mother, Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur…reports Asian Lite News

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided not to field Varun Gandhi, the current Member of Parliament from Pilibhit, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury extended an offer to the leader, asking him to join the party.

The senior Congress leader addressing the media here on Tuesday, alleged that Varun Gandhi has been denied a BJP ticket due to his connection with Gandhi’s family.

“He should come here. We would be happy. He is an educated man. He has a clean image. BJP denied him a ticket because he is related to the Gandhi family. I think he should come (to Congress),” the Congress leader said.

The BJP on Sunday announced its fifth list of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, dropping Varun Gandhi from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and retaining his mother, Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Jitin Prasada, who crossed over from the Congress to the BJP two years ago, was named the BJP’s candidate for Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency.

Varun Gandhi, in his debut contest in 2009, won Pilibhit decisively with 4.19 lakh votes. His subsequent wins in 2014 and 2019 further cemented the family’s political dominance.

Prasada, who was a minister twice in the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government and was considered one of Rahul Gandhi’s top aides, had lost two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 and was elected to the UP Legislative council in 2021.

Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.

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Varun Gandhi criticises new JNU VC

“The immediate focus of this administration would be to provide clean administration, students friendly and gender-sensitive environment for academic excellence…reports Asian Lite News

BJP MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, on Tuesday criticised the newly appointed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit terming her appointment as ‘mediocre’ that can damage human capital and youth’s future.

Varun Gandhi’s comment came in view of the press statement released by Pandit after her appointment as JNU VC on Monday, wherein the BJP leader found grammar mistakes.

“This press release from the new JNU VC is an exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence). Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital & our youth’s future,” Varun Gandhi said in a tweet on Tuesday morning.

Pandit in her statement soon after the announcement of her appointment had said (verbatim):

“As Vice-Chancellor, JNU, I thank both the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education for giving me this opportunity as the first woman and alumnus of this esteemed University from the State of Tamil Nadu.

“The immediate focus of this administration would be to provide clean administration, students friendly and gender-sensitive environment for academic excellence.

“We would strive to implement NEP 2020 the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister especially in interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary areas of studies, JNU rising to greater heights of academics and research. The focus would in constructing Indo-centric narratives.

“I look forward to working with students, faculty and staff to contribute in achieving these objectives. (sic)”

Pandit was appointed as the first female VC of the JNU by the Ministry of Education on Monday.

Born in Russia’s St. Petersburg, Pandit is fluent in English, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, and Konkani. She did her schooling in Chennai and topped the state. She also did her B.A. in History and Social Psychology in 1983 from Presidency College in Chennai and did a diploma in Social Work from California State University. Pandit is also a gold medallist.

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Varun Gandhi leaves BJP?

Varun, earlier, has spoken in support of the agitating farmers and even tweeted a short clip of a speech made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in support of farmers…writes speaks with Amita Verma.

With his recent statements that are not necessarily in consonance with the BJP, Varun Gandhi is leaving his party leaders guessing.

His latest tweet against Padma Shri awardee Kangana Ranaut –whose statement on Independence has already created a political storm-may has embarrassed the BJP but it has surprisingly won him support from the BJP cadre.

A local BJP leader from Sultanpur, a constituency that he represented in 2014, said, “The Padma Shri award to Kangana Ranaut, in any case, was a major embarrassment for us because of her earlier statements and behaviour. Her Independence statement was rightly snubbed by Varun Gandhi. We fully support him though we may not be able to declare this from the rooftops.”

Varun, earlier, has spoken in support of the agitating farmers and even tweeted a short clip of a speech made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in support of farmers.

Last month, he was seen taking a stand against the Union Minister of state for home Ajay Misra Teni and his son Ashish Misra whose vehicles allegedly mowed down four protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

Varun tweeted a video of the incident and wrote, “The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer.”

Varun’s statements have not been officially countered by the BJP but the party made its displeasure clear by dropping him from the party’s national executive.

While senior leaders are unable to understand why the youngest Gandhi scion is determined to create trouble, the party cadre is buzzing with speculation about Varun’s next move.

“A Gandhi in the BJP cannot be acceptable beyond a point and Varun’s growth as a political leader has been stunted in the party. I would not be surprised if he moves over to greener pastures in the coming days,” said a senior party leader who had once seen Varun ‘as the leader of tomorrow.’

There has also been talking of Varun moving over to the Congress but he has already dismissed any such possibility.

The Congress workers, however, are secretly thrilled at the very idea of Varun joining the party.

“He is a grassroots leader. We have seen his connect with the party workers in Sultanpur and Pilibhit. He is politically shrewd and adequately aggressive – just what we need to revive the Congress. Most importantly he is not dependent on any coterie in politics,” said a veteran expelled Congress leader.

Meanwhile, as Varun Gandhi ups the ante with his statements, BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh are wary of the damage that the party may have to suffer ahead of the state Assembly elections.

As a senior BJP MLA said on condition of anonymity, “There is no doubt that Varun Gandhi is more than just another party MP and his words will undoubtedly have an impact on the people. We are waiting for his next move and also waiting to see the party’s reaction.”

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