Shunning hate baggage, BJP poster boy Varun Gandhi talks about India's potential

New Delhi, Sep.21 (ANI): Varun Gandhi has learnt his lessons fast. Rising to prominence with his reported venomous hate speech against Muslims in his political pocket borough Pilibhit during this year's general elections, he is now singing a different tune today.

If yesterday, Gandhi was promising to cut someone to pieces for labelling Hindus as weak or leaderless, today he speaks about India's place in the new global order in an address to the Indo-American Charity Foundation (IACF) in Houston, Texas.

Gandhi received a rousing reception from the over 500-strong audience that included prominent Houstonians, including Congressman Pete Olson and the Indian Consul General.

Repeatedly stressing on the fact that India is a country that is abundant in both human and natural resources, Gandhi maintained that India was not a poor country, but a poorly managed nation.

He appealed for the proper use of technology, the adoption of skill-based training and the efficient utilization of the world's greatest workforce and Indias greatest resource.

If Varun was citing the names of Karimullah and Mazrullah" in the past, in the present, he informs about numerous schemes and ingenious inventions by ordinary Indians and NGOs that have reduced maternal mortality by 50 percent, addressed the rural population's need for eye-care, disaster management, technology and eco-friendly vehicles.

Gandhi's views appear to be a course correction exercise on the part of the BJP and the RSS, who believe he is a potential leader in the making.

Gandhi appears to want to play a bigger role in the BJP, which is striving to find someone young enough to counter Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)