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Varun Gandhi

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Feroze Varun Gandhi (listenⓘ) (born 13 March 1980) is an Indian politician who has been a three time Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Pilibhit constituency. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was inducted into Rajnath Singh's team in March 2012 as General Secretary.[1] He belongs to the Nehru–Gandhi family, which has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India since a time before the country's independence in 1947.

Varun Sanjay Gandhi
Varun Gandhi
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 May 2019 (2019-05-23) – 4 June 2024
Preceded byManeka Gandhi
Succeeded byJitin Prasada
ConstituencyPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh
In office
16 May 2014 (2014-05-16) – 23 May 2019 (2019-05-23)
Preceded bySanjay Sinh
Succeeded byManeka Gandhi
ConstituencySultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
In office
2009 (2009)–2014 (2014)
Preceded byManeka Gandhi
Succeeded byManeka Gandhi
ConstituencyPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh
National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
19 June 2013 (2013-06-19) – 16 September 2014 (2014-09-16)
Personal details
Born
Feroze Varun Gandhi

(1980-03-13) 13 March 1980 (age 44)
New Delhi, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse
Yamini Roy Chowdhury
​
​
(m. 2011)​
Children1
Parents
RelativesSee Nehru–Gandhi family
Alma materUniversity of London
Occupation
Source [1]

Early life and education

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Feroze Varun Gandhi[2][3] was born in Delhi on 13 March 1980 to Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi and the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He is the nephew of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and cousin of Rahul Gandhi. Varun was born soon after Indira Gandhi regained power in the 1980 general election. Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash when Varun was three months old in June 1980. Indira was assassinated when Varun was four years old on 31 October 1984. Varun attended Rishi Valley School and the British School, New Delhi, where he ran for a position on the student council.[4]

Political career

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Entry into politics

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Varun Gandhi was first introduced to the Pilibhit constituency by his mother during the 1999 election campaigning.[5] Maneka had been a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since earlier but she and Varun formally joined BJP in 2004.[6] Varun Gandhi campaigned for the party in the 2004 elections, covering over 40 constituencies.[7]

 
Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi with 10th Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on 2004.

In an interview to Stephen Sackur on BBC's HARDTalk in October 2005, Gandhi answered questions about the reasons behind his political affiliation and defended his father as someone who had helped revive the industrialisation of India by starting Maruti Udyog and whose strategy helped the Congress party's comeback after the first ever non-Congress Janata Party government following an electoral routing for the Indira Gandhi-government after Emergency, among many other things.[8]

Increasing prominence within BJP

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Elected as a Member of Parliament

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In the 2009 general election, the BJP decided to field Varun Gandhi as its candidate from the Pilibhit constituency instead of his mother Maneka Gandhi.[9] He won the seat by receiving 419,539 votes and defeated his nearest contending candidate, V.M. Singh, by a margin of 281,501 votes.[10][11][12][13][14] The victory was the strongest of any of the four Gandhi family candidates in the election: his mother Maneka Gandhi, aunt Sonia Gandhi and first cousin Rahul Gandhi. The security deposits of all other candidates, including those of V.M. Singh of the Indian National Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Ganga Charan Rajput were forfeited.[15] A case was filed against Gandhi for allegedly making a provocative speech about Muslims, at a meeting at Dalchand Mohalla area of Pilibhit; however, he was acquitted by in court in the matter.[16][17] On 5 March 2013, a Pilibhit court acquitted Gandhi in the second hate speech case registered against him during the 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign.[18]

In August 2011, Varun Gandhi strongly pitched for the Jan Lokpal Bill. Gandhi offered his official residence to activist Anna Hazare to hold his fast, after Hazare was denied permission by the government.[19] When Hazare was jailed, Gandhi offered to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.[20] On 24 August, he went to Ramlila Maidan as a common man to support the cause of Anna Hazare, becoming the first politician to openly support the anti-corruption cause.[21]

Appointment as National General Secretary of BJP

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In March 2013, Rajnath Singh appointed Varun Gandhi as the national general secretary of the BJP. He became the youngest ever general secretary of the party.[22] In May 2013, Varun Gandhi was made in charge of the BJP's affairs in West Bengal.

 
Bharatiya Janata Party election campaign meet on 1 August 2013 in Delhi

In August 2013, newspapers reported that Gandhi was the only MP in the country who had spent all of his MP Local Area Development Fund (MPLAD) before stipulated time. According to official sources, Varun Gandhi used his funds for the development in education, health and infrastructure activities. His proposals were worth more than the entire MPLAD fund thus ensuring the entire amount of 25 crore was spent during his tenure as a Member of Parliament.[23]

Gandhi was highly critical of his cousin Rahul Gandhi as well as the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. He was projected as a youth face of the party within Uttar Pradesh.[24] In September 2013, Varun Gandhi accused the Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government of pursuing the politics of appeasement, and said that its mistakes would lead to its collapse, after it denied permission to Varun Gandhi's rally in Agra just two days before it was scheduled to take place.[25]

He also denounced Rahul Gandhi's infamous outburst against the controversial ordinance against convicted lawmakers, and said that it was an insult to the Prime Minister, who was abroad at the time, and therefore also disgraceful to the nation.[26] He also said that if the Prime Minister had any dignity left, he should resign immediately upon his return to the country, on the day of Rahul Gandhi's outburst.[27]

Second term as Member of Parliament

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In February 2014, Gandhi kickstarted his campaign for the 2014 election in Sultanpur. He gave an emotional speech to an enthusiastic crowd in Kadipur, and said that he had come to Sultanpur to fulfill his father's dreams.[28]

In May 2014, Gandhi defeated Amita Singh from Sultanpur in Lok Sabha 2014 elections.[29]

In March 2016, he introduced the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Lok Sabha.[30]

Third term as Member of Parliament

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He contested from Pilibhit lok sabha constituency in 2019 general elections and won with approx 250,000 votes to become an MP for the third consecutive time.[31]

Deterioration of Relationship with the BJP Leadership

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Gandhi's relationship with the top leadership of the BJP declined and he became rather more critical of the policies of the Party. It started after an October 2021 tweet in which he criticized the murder of farmer protestors in Lakhimpur Keri District, Uttar Pradesh, which had potentially been linked to a Party politician. This resulted in his removal from the Party’s National Executive Committee.[32]

Columnist

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Gandhi writes articles and policy papers for several national dailies and magazines in India, such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Asian Age, The Hindu, Outlook among others. Gandhi writes the largest syndicated column in the country covering 21 newspapers—including Malayala Manorama, Lokmat, Rajasthan Patrika, Punjab Kesari, Amar Ujala, Sandesh, Bartaman, Sakshi—reaching more than 200 million readers.[citation needed]

Writings

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Gandhi wrote his first volume of poems, titled The Otherness of Self, at the age of 20, in 2000. His second volume of poems, titled Stillness was published by HarperCollins in April 2015. The book became the bestselling non-fiction book, selling over 10,000 copies in the first two days of its release.[33]

In 2018, he released his book on the Indian rural economy titled The Rural Manifesto: Realising India's Future Through Her Villages. The book sold over 30,000 copies in ten days of its release.[34]

His fourth book, The Indian Metropolis: Deconstructing India’s Urban Spaces, was released in February 2023.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Modi Enters Parliamentary Board, Chauhan Ignored". firstpost.com. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Feroze Varun Gandhi". National Portal of India. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Sen, Upala; Kohli, Namita (2009). "Strange Gandhi". No. March 27, 2009. Hindustan Times.
  5. ^ "Quote of the week". India Today. 13 September 1999.
  6. ^ Omkar Singh (16 February 2004). "Maneka, Varun Gandhi join BJP". rediff.com.
  7. ^ Kaveree Bamzai (3 May 2004). "The charm troopers". India Today.
  8. ^ Sackur, Stephen (18 October 2005). "Hardtalk". BBC.
  9. ^ Bharatiya Janata Party – The Party with a Difference Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. BJP. Retrieved on 9 August 2011.
  10. ^ "Varun Gandhi wins from Pilibhit". The Indian Express. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  11. ^ "Varun Gandhi received large chank of votes in 2009 election". Dainik Jagran. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  12. ^ "Varun Gandhi defeated his opponents in 2009 election". Dainik Jagran. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  13. ^ "ECI declares Varun Gandhi as Winner from Pilibhit" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  14. ^ "Pilibhit Message of 2009". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  15. ^ "1,368 candidates lost security deposits in UP". The Times of India. 24 May 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  16. ^ "Varun Gandhi's hate-Muslim speech makes his BJP squirm". Indian Express. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  17. ^ "Court acquits Varun Gandhi in 2009 hate speech case". Yahoo! News. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  18. ^ "Varun Gandhi Acquitted in Second Hate Speech Case". The Times of India. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Varun offers house to Anna for protests". The Indian Express. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  20. ^ "Varun jumps in, plans to table Anna's bill". The Indian Express. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  21. ^ "Varun Gandhi visits Ramlila Ground to support Anna Hazare". The Times of India. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  22. ^ "Back to Hindutva in UP? Firebrand leader Uma Bharati, Varun Gandhi get key positions in new BJP team". India Today. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  23. ^ "VARUN GANDHI ONLY MP SPENDING MPLAD FUND". ThePioneer. 12 August 2013.
  24. ^ "BJP grooms its young Varun Gandhi to take on Rahul Gandhi in UP". DNA India. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  25. ^ "VARUN GANDHI SLAMS UP GOVERNMENT". TheEconomicTimes. 28 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013.
  26. ^ "VARUN GANDHI DENOUNCES RAHUL'S OUTBURST". TheHindustanTimes. 29 September 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  27. ^ "IF PM HAS ANY DIGNITY, HE MUST RESIGN". ZeeNews. 27 September 2013.
  28. ^ "A FIGHTING VARUN GANDHI IS ALL SET TO STORM SULTANPUR". Firstpost. 12 February 2014.
  29. ^ Sanchari Bhattacharya (16 May 2014). "Election Results 2014: BJP Leader Varun Gandhi Wins From Sultanpur". NDTV.com.
  30. ^ "Right to recall will keep MPs, MLAs on their toes", Hindustan Times, 1 March 2017
  31. ^ "Pilibhit Lok Sabha results 2019: BJP's Varun Gandhi wins by margin of over 2.5 lakh votes". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  32. ^ "Rise and fall of Varun Gandhi, the Nehru-Gandhi scion in BJP". India Today. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  33. ^ "Dairy, Mighty Pen". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  34. ^ "Swamy declares Varun the 'Pandit'". Gossip Guru. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
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  • Profile at Lok Sabha, Parliament of India
Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament from Sultanpur
2014 – present 		Incumbent
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