The BJP’s newest poster boy Varun Gandhi, 29, said at a public meeting near here that he wants to be known as a Gandhi for his work rather than just his famous surname.
Addressing a campaign meeting in Fatehpur, 40 km from Kanpur, the BJP’s candidate from Pilibhit, who was jailed after his hate speech against Muslims on March 7, said, “I am not a Gandhi just by name but I am working Gandhi. People ask me how it feels to be a Gandhi but I swear I want them to recognise me through my work and not the famous name.”
Later, at a campaign meeting in Kanpur,he said, “The Congress is dead in Uttar Pradesh. My mother (Maneka Gandhi) has asked me not to speak of the dead. So, I will not offer any comment on the Congress party.”
“I am fighting for your honour, against injustice and terrorism and Uttar Pradesh will be my political karmabhumi,” Varun said at Fatehpur. Targeting the BSP government that charged him with violating the National Security Act, Varun urged the people to move beyond caste politics and embrace national patriotic values.
Criticising today’s politicians, he said, “They have snapped all their ties with patriotism. There is no place left for patriots in the country.”
{{/usCountry}}Criticising today’s politicians, he said, “They have snapped all their ties with patriotism. There is no place left for patriots in the country.”
{{/usCountry}}He called on youths to join him and his party’s campaign for promoting nationalism. “Rise above caste politics and caste bonds to make a difference,” he exhorted people present at the rally.
Talking about his stint in jail, Varun said he was kept in isolation and that a peepul tree was his only friend in prison.
Varun was released on parole on April 16 by an order of the Supreme Court, after the BJP candidate gave an assurance that he would not make any speech against any community, religion or race and will not disturb public order during the period of his parole.