LUCKNOW: As the buzz around the BJP’s plan to deny a ticket to Varun Gandhi, the sitting BJP MP from Pilibhit, is getting stronger, other political payers are coming into play including Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who has dropped a hint of fielding the Gandhi scion saying his party could think on those lines.
As per highly-placed sources, the ruling BJP which has already revealed the names of 51 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in its first list, is yet to declare the remaining 24 seats, including Pilibhit and Sultanpur where Maneka Gandhi is the sitting MP.
The sources claim that while the BJP is considering to repeat Maneka Gandhi in Sultanpur, the axe may fall on Varun Gandhi who had been very aggressively vocal against the central and the UP governments for the last couple of years. The party has spared five seats for the allies including two each for Jayant Chaudhury-led RLD, Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal (S), one for OP Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
The sources also claim that the ruling party may consider UP PWD minister Jitin Prasad of Sanjay Gangwar, the sitting BJP MLA in Pilibhit, to replace Varun Gandhi.
It has been speculated that if denied a ticket by the BJP, Varun Gandhi may turn to the Samajwadi Party, which may even oblige him.
Notably, the SP chief is yet to declare the candidate for Pilibhit along with Moradabad and Rampur.
SP insiders say that while the candidates for Moradabad and Rampur would be decided in consultation with jailed party leader Azam Khan, for Pilibhit, the SP leadership is waiting for the BJP to play its cards.
There was also a buzz that if denied a ticket by the BJP, Varun may test the waters in Amethi as an independent candidate supported by both the SP and the Congress but he had recently ruled out the possibility while talking to media persons.
A few other seats in UP may also see the sitting BJP MPs being replaced. In Barabanki, the party may replace Upendra Rawat, who had figured in the first list but withdrew after a controversial video showing him with a woman went viral on social media. The controversial Kaiserganj MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh may also be replaced by either his wife Ketaki Singh or son. Similarly, the party is expected to give a ticket to Abhinav Sinha, son of J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, from Ghazipur.
Manoj Sinha had lost the seat to BSP’s Afzal Ansari in 2019. This time, Ansari, brother of gangster-turned-politician, Mukhtar Ansari, is contesting as the SP candidate from Ghazipur.
