New Delhi: The BJP, which has been unnerved by Priyanka Gandhi’s plunge into active politics, may get yet another jolt in the first week of February when she formally takes charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. She may make a big splash by bringing into the Congress her younger cousin Varun Gandhi (38), a BJP MP from Sultanpur in UP.
The Congress leadership is keeping her debut under wraps but insiders said she may kick off her charge by asking Varun to join the party on the day she takes over in UP. Priyanka (47) has remained in touch with Varun over the years and she is believed to have obtained a green signal from her brother, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, to determine the timing of Varun’s entry into the Congress.
Sources said Priyanka is working not only on Varun but also trying to persuade his mother Maneka to join the Congress. She is just waiting for a nod from her mother Sonia Gandhi (72) before directly approaching Maneka and asking her to let bygones be bygones.
Varun, who was once seen as a firebrand leader of the BJP, has fallen out with the party leadership. It has kept him on the margins for the past one and a half years and did not give him any role in the last Assembly elections. The BJP leadership has not taken too kindly to Maneka’s demand that Varun should be the chief ministerial face in UP.
The BJP leadership is also upset with Varun since he wrote a book on farmers’ distress and kept addressing students in colleges and universities in UP on his own initiative, without taking permission from the party. Also, he stopped attending the party’s organisational meetings. Sources in Varun’s camp say he would have joined the Congress a couple of months ago but there was no clarity on what position he will have in the party.
They said he wants a responsibility in the party and a say in the allotment of tickets to supporters. It is understood that some BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh may also switch sides, if Varun gets an assurance of sorts, which they expect with Priyanka presiding over the party affairs. These sitting MPs fear that the BJP will drop them on one pretext or the other and it makes sense to move onto the Congress, if they are assured of a ticket.
