NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: A day after a court panel recommended revocation of the National Security Act (NSA) provisions against him, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi asked voters in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit parliamentary constituency to rise against the “anti-poor” Mayawati government.
Addressing voters in Puranpur in Pilibhit, which goes to the polls in the last phase May 13, Varun said: “We should rise against the Mayawati government as she is against the poor and those promoting nationalism.”
“Everyone knows I do whatever I say even if I have to go to jail,” Varun said. “My fight is not against any individual but against all those who are against the poor and weaker sections of society.”
Accusing the Mayawati government of not having made any significant effort to check crime in the state, Varun said: “This government has failed to maintain law and order. Criminals and anti-social elements are openly extorting money and roaming freely in our villages.”
He exhorted the people: “Please remember, I don’t want to live in an Uttar Pradesh where people are suppressed, the poor are not looked after.”
Striking an emotive chord with the people, he said: “The day I was arrested, you all gave me blood, took bullets. When there is trouble upon you, then Varun Gandhi is prepared to take on your problems.”
Varun, the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll candidate from Pilibhit, said that for him the biggest electoral issue was to restore the dignity of the poor and weaker sections of society.
— With input from agencies
