Advani, Rajnath to campaign for Varun in Pilibhit

Standing firm with Varun Gandhi, who may have to contest the Lok Sabha elections from jail after being booked under NSA, BJP on Monday said senior party leaders including L K Advani and president Rajnath Singh will campaign for him in his constituency Pilibhit.

Standing firm with Varun Gandhi, who may have to contest the Lok Sabha elections from jail after being booked under NSA, BJP on Monday said senior party leaders including L K Advani and president Rajnath Singh will campaign for him in his constituency Pilibhit.

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"Varun Gandhi is our candidate from Pilibhit and we cannot leave him all alone to fight this battle. Who in BJP will refuse to campaign for him? Advani and Rajnath will also visit his constituency," BJP election in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Kalraj Mishra told reporters.

Mishra said the party was yet to decide the future course of action.

"Our first concern is to get Varun out of jail. The BSP government in UP and the Congress have done injustice to him purposely, blatantly and in a well-planned manner," he said.

The BJP is hopeful he will get bail when the case comes up for hearing. Cases under NSA are otherwise reviewed every three months.

"Even if he doesn't get bail, Varun will contest from jail," Mishra said. In such a scenario, BJP may appoint a person to run the campaign in the constituency on his behalf.

Mishra alleged that prime minister Manmohan Singh and the Gandhi family did not want another Gandhi to come to prominence and hence were targeting Varun.