Blabbering Varun again puts BJP in tight spot

Varun Gandhi has again created a political storm of kind, this time within his party.

What he did was simply ‘praising his estranged cousin brother, Congress general secretary and candidate for Amethi Lok Sabha constituency Rahul Gandhi.

At a meeting with a group of teachers at Sultanpur, where he is the official candidate for BJP, Varun praised Rahul for his efforts towards empowering women in Amethi.

The BJP candidate said Rahul is doing a good job through self-help groups for ameliorating the status of women in Amethi and added that he would like to do the same in the his constituency.

Though nothing wrong in praising one for his good work, Varun’s comment, however, did not go down well among his party colleagues and senior BJP leaders, who have seen this (his comment) as a deterrent and would go against the prospect of actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, who is pitted against Rahul at Amethi.

When asked about Varun’s comment, Rahul Gandhi, who was accompanying his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi at Rai Barelli, said, "We have been working continuously in Amethi according to a strategy... we have laid foundation of education hub.. done work for farmers .... got a food park... what Varun is saying is right."

Though the prospective BJP leader quickly gave a clarification on Twitter saying that his comment was misquoted and his comment should not be seen as an endorsement of Rahul Gandhi.

In 2009 election too, Varun created a big embarrassment to his party and virtually given a stick to Congress to beat BJP by saying in an election rally at Pilibhit that he would chop off the hands who hurt Hindus. He was later arrested for his hate speech and subsequently acquitted after two years of court battle.

His party had distanced itself from him during the trial.

His speech had dented the prospect of the party in 2009 Parliamentary polls, where LK Advani was seeking to become Prime Minster.

He got his ticket to prove his political maturity, but by praising his political opponent, he has again put his party in tight spot.

Though Varun has clarified his stand, his praise will give a chance to Rahul Gandhi to convince his electorate to get more votes and Smriti will have to do extra work to nullify the damage done by Varun.