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| BJP divided on fielding Maneka's son | | |
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, OCT. 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is vertically divided over fielding Varun Gandhi, son of Maneka Gandhi, as its candidate for upcoming Lok Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh. While there is temptation to bring arch rival Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi's nephew in Parliament, a section in the party is opposed to it saying that the young Gandhi should first serve the party before making it big in politics.
The Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, vacated by incumbent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, upon his election to the State Assembly, is slated to go to polls later this year. According to BJP insiders, Varun Gandhi has been lobbying hard over the past few months to grab the nomination. In all likelihood, the State election coimmitteeAlthough the State election committee will pass on the baton to the BJP central election committee to announce the party candidate.
The 16-member central election committee, headed by BJP chief Rajnath Singh, is to meet in the national capital on Friday. Vidisha is considered a BJP bastion. With victory of the party candidate more or less assured, stakes have risen over selection of the candidate. The central election committee meeting may witness intense debate over Varun's proposed candidature.
While Chouhan, party chief Rajnath Singh and general secretary in-charge for organisation affairs Sanjay Joshi are opposed to Varun's nomination, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of opposition Lal Krishna Advani and former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu are in favour of fielding Varun Gandhi. Those supporting his candidature point out that bringing Varun to the Lok Sabha would not only embarrass Sonia Gandhi and her parliamentarian son Rahul Gandhi, Varun would be better placed to campaign for the party during the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh due early next year.
Political circles are already excited at the clash of cousins Rahul and Varun in Uttar Pradesh. However, those opposed to Varun's candidature say that it would be better if he is first made to serve the party and prove his worth in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
Critics of Varun Gandhi ask: What is his contribution to the party besides the fact that he is Sonia Gandhi's nephew? A senior central ofice bearer of the BJP said: "It would be much better if his (Varun Gandhi's) performance is watched during UP polls and then rewarded with a Lok Sabha nomination from Uttar Pradesh when the next general elections get due in 2009".
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