Lok Sabha Election 2024: Denying Ticket to Varun From Pilibhit 'Was Uncalled For', Says BJP MP Maneka Gandhi

After three-time MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi was denied a BJP ticket for the Lok Sabha elections, Maneka Gandhi, his mother and a party candidate from Sultanpur, said, " Wasn’t called for.”

In an interview to ThePrint, Gandhi said, “He was a very very good MP, even issue-wise and for his constituency. But I’m sure what will happen in the future, is that whatever he continues to do, it’ll be good for him, it’ll be good for India.”

BJP has fielded Jitin Prasad from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh after dening ticket to Varun Gandhi. Pilibhit is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The voting will take place on April 19 as part of Phase 1. The constituents eagerly await the counting and announcement of results scheduled for June 4.

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Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Jitin Prasad, the Samajwadi Party fielded Bhagwant Saran Gangwar and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded Anees Ahmes Khan as key contenders in the electoral fray.

Asking on Congress not announcing candidates from Amethi and Rae Bareli yet, Maneka said, “they should have had a candidate there right now. They are just giving them away.”

“I am seeking a mandate for India.” “It’s a combination of everything — Mr Modi, the party, me In order for it to be successful, it would have to be a combination of everything,” when asked whether she was seeking a mandate for Modi or for India. 

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Gandhi was “clueless” about why several of the party MPs were not given tickets this time, though she was nowhere near the levers of decision-making. “If the criteria was members of Parliament who didn’t work…but it wasn’t really that criteria.”

For the first time since 1989 when Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi won the Lok Sabha polls in Pilibhit as a Janata Dal candidate, a Gandhi family member is not fighting from this constituency. Maneka lost the 1991 election from here but after that, she and Varun have won seven consecutive elections from Pilibhit.