Political scene in UP hots up ahead of LS polls, Varun may contest

Lucknow, Mar 10 (UNI) Even as dates for the Lok Sabha elections are yet to be announced, leaders of various parties and probable candidates have started doing the rounds including Varun Gandhi, yet another Gandhi family scion, set to enter active politics by contesting the polls.

Several probable candidates, particulary of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and others have already launched their campaign in their respective Lok Sabha seats, but the new delimitation of the constiuencies has made the political masters to shift their base in search for a new home.

Menaka Gandhi, sister-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi is set to move out from her Pilibhit seat to the adjoining Aonla seat so that her son Varun Gandhi could contest from there.

'' Posters of Ms Gandhi had already being circulated in the Aonla constituency as Varun Gandhi is all set to contest from Pilibhit from where his mother had gone to the lower House of Parliament four times'', said a senior BJP leader.

Manaka Gandhi joined the Opposition Janata Dal and became a union minister in the V P Singh government, which followed Rajiv Gandhi's electoral defeat in 1989. During the 1998 and 1999 elections, she won as an independent supported by the BJP.

She supported the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre and became a Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. During the 2004 General Elections, she formally joined the BJP along with her son, Varun Gandhi. Manaka Gandhi won her seat again, but Varun did not meet the age requirement to contest, and spent his time campaigning.

In October 2006, Varun Gandhi was tipped to contest the by elections to the Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency of Vidisha but could not succeed in getting nomination from the BJP national executive.

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