NEW DELHI: Amid high political drama, Varun Gandhi courted arrested yesterday in Pilibhit, from where he is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Lok Sabha polls. He was sent to jail until March 30 for his reported hate speeches, but the party maintained he would be deployed in the election campaign according to his capacities.
“He (Varun) is just a party worker and our candidate from Pilibhit and he will be utilized according to his capabilities,” senior party leader Kalraj Mishra, who accompanied Gandhi in Pilibhit, a district in Uttar Pradesh, told reporters in state capital Lucknow in the evening.
Mishra was replying to questions if his party saw Gandhi as a new “Hindutva poster-boy” and star campaigner.
BJP activists reached Pilibhit in tractors and buses to display their support for Varun. Armed with hockey sticks, they also clashed with police which opened fire in the air. Around 50 activists were detained for unlawful assembly as they had violated section 144 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) that had been imposed in the area. Varun’s supporters tried to prevent the police from taking him to the district jail. The agitated supporters displayed their anger by throwing stones in the jail compound.
Mishra also reiterated Gandhi’s stance that the CD of his speeches was doctored and said the party condemned this.
Mishra blamed the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the Left parties for giving Gandhi’s election speeches a communal angle. The court remand against Gandhi came shortly after he said he was “ready to go to jail” over the alleged anti-Muslim speeches.
Before leaving the court, Gandhi said: “I respect the judiciary and have full faith in it. If my going to jail generates confidence and power in the people of my society to fight for their principles, I am ready for it.”
Gandhi, earlier in the day, reached the court complex with a large number of supporters. Initially, the judge told his lawyers that there was no warrant against Gandhi and if he wanted to surrender he should file an affidavit mentioning the sections under which cases have been registered against him.
In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal described Gandhi’s surrender and arrest a “drama”.
“A drama is being enacted by Varun Gandhi. I am sure that (BJP leader L.K.) Advaniji is in tune with it. Without his consent, it would not have happened,” Sibal said.
Interestingly, Advani, addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, chose not to comment on Gandhi.
Though he addressed a gathering in Maharajganj district, barely a few hours after Gandhi’s arrest, he did not speak on the controversy during his 20-minute speech.
— With input from agencies
