BJP drops Varun from list of party campaigners

In an apparent bid to keep itself away from further controversy arising out of the anti-Muslim remarks of Varun Gandhi, the BJP has dropped him from the official list of party campaigners for the Lok Sabha polls.

Gandhi was originally among the list of 40 party leaders which the BJP had decided to submit to the Election Commission a day after the first notification for the polls come out on March 23.

“The list of campaigners will be of official speakers of the party. The move (of removing Varun Gandhi’s name) is an effort towards not having any further controversies while we need to concentrate on the polls,” a top party leader, in charge of the campaign, said.

The recent change in rules introduced by the EC makes the party responsible along with the leader for any violation of the model code of conduct, the leader said. Gandhi’s name also does not figure in the list of leaders for whom the party today demanded extra security cover during their campaign.

Party insiders, however, say that several BJP candidates have approached the party office asking for Gandhi as a speaker in their campaigns, saying that the young Gandhi has been “appreciated” by the party.

Gandhi was part of the official list of campaigners since he joined the saffron party along with his mother Maneka Gandhi before the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

The saffron party had also plans to pitch Varun as a reply to his cousin Rahul Gandhi in the poll campaign.