UP polls: Varun Gandhi brigade criticises BJP neglect of bhaiyya'

Sultanpur: A tiny wayside dhaba, known for its delicious ‘rabri’, is packed to capacity on Friday morning with the locals and mediapersons en route to Sultanpur. The chatter is on in between crunchy ‘jalebis’ topped with generous helpings of ‘rabri’.

The dhaba is located in Isauli Assembly segment and the conversation veers to ‘Monu Bhaiyya’, officially known as Yash Bhadra Singh. His brother, ‘Sonu Bhaiyya’ (Chandra Bhadra Singh) is a former MLA.

Both the brothers are staunch supporters of Varun Gandhi but were denied tickets by the BJP. Monu is now contesting on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket but their loyalty to their leader remains undiminished. “They (brothers) had no option after the BJP turned them away. They failed to get a ticket only because they are with Varun bhaiyya,” says Saket, a representative of a telecom company. The conversation veers to the reasons that made Varun stay away from his constituency for this elections.

“It is a fight for self respect. The party first removed him as general secretary and then deprived him of the charge of a state. Later, he was dropped him from the list of star campaigners. He was not even consulted on choice of candidates in his constituency. He should have been a chief ministerial candidate but that did not happen,” said Sujal Singh, a member of the Varun Gandhi Youth Brigade.

This conversation among many shows that BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s  absence in Uttar Pradesh is more noticeable than in his presence and people are also questioning the reasons behind that absence.