Is he also a second generation hyped dynast ?
In 2016 in a Standing Committee meeting on the External Affairs Ministry in the Parliament both Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi were nice to each other and toed almost similar lines despite being from two parties.
Is this the case of the ‘return’ of prodigal cousins ?
Mr Varun Gandhi and his mom, Maneka Gandhi, missing their names in the newly recast BJP National Executive panel made news; and it was certainly not without good reason.
The political journey of Varun Gandhi, the cousin of former Congress president Rahul and nephew of aunt Sonia Gandhi, deserves a closer scrutiny.
While doing so, it is again worth revisiting some of his tweets.
“The video is crystal clear. Protesters cannot be silenced through murder,” came his missive on Lakhimpur mega episode.
In another missive on September 5, he had said – “we need to start re-engaging with them”.
Now, if a section of BJP leaders were unhappy with such missives; what else could have been the reactions. When his party’s official stance is something else and an assertion that probe would be conducted, calling it ‘murder’ does not seem to be an innocuous statement.
In 2009, he had made a highly provocative statement against Muslims and had said even certain Muslim names could spread fear among the people.
He had called for “cutting off” the hands that were raised against Hindus. In fact, after the poll debacle, BJP stalwart L K Advani was asked (in Parliament premises in 2009) on whether Varun Gandhi’s statement had caused the defeat for the saffron part-led NDA.
In 2014 yet again, Varun stole media limelight when he lauded Rahul Gandhi’s works for his constituency Amethi.
Some BJP leaders privately say – it is a fact that Varun Gandhi too is a ‘dynast’ and often hyped merely because of his surname.
“Emergency is a blot, we keep attacking Congress for Emergency and curbing democracy, but Varun Gandhi is a direct lineage of Sanjay Gandhi, who played the maximum abusive and autocratic role during Emergency,” says a party insider.
Leaders also suggest that dropping both Maneka Gandhi and son Varun (both MPs) have actually fulfilled a longtime desire of a section of BJP leaders.
Observers say prior to 2017 elections, a section of media deliberately had hyped about Varun Gandhi and even put his name as a probable Chief Minister.
However, most BJP leaders were against such an idea and once Yogi Adityanath was entrusted to be Chief Minister, analysts thought the message was clear for Varun Gandhi and his ‘lawmaker Ma’.
Even in the past questions have been asked whether two cousins (rather three of them with Priyanka) can ever work together and help ‘revive’ Congress.
New Delhi’s political circles are aware of issues and differences between Sonia Gandhi and Maneka, but the cousins have generally stayed clear of any major fight or debate in public.
Of course in 2009 in the run up to the general elections, Priyanka Gandhi had advised Varun to read Bhagwad Gita more carefully and in detail. This was when Varun trying to pose himself as a Hindu hardliner had lambasted the Muslims in general.
In 2017, the cousins (younger Gandhi siblings) were among headlines when Congress leader Hazi Manzoor Ahmed suggested that there were plans to accommodate Varun Gandhi in the “Congress Working Committee” once Rahul Gandhi becomes party president.
Are we heading for a great ‘parivar’ unity show ?
