Varun Gandhi opts out of Pilibhit race, does not file nomination as independent

BJP's Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi did not turn up in Pilibhit on the last day of filing of nominations for the seat, putting at rest speculation that he might enter the fray as an independent candidate after the party denied him a ticket.

The BJP had replaced him with Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada, who filed his nomination papers from the Pilibhit seat on Wednesday in the presence of his ministerial colleague Swatantra Dev Singh and party state president Bhupendra Chaudhary.

The speculation over Varun Gandhi contesting from Pilibhit had intensified after his representative bought a set of nomination papers last week.

This is for the first time in over three decades that the mother-son duo of Maneka and Varun Gandhi will not be in the fray from the Pilibhit constituency which is located in the Terai belt bordering Nepal.

The denial of ticket to Varun Gandhi this time did not come as a surprise as he has been criticising the BJP on the issues of farmers, health and jobs.

After he was replaced by Prasada, reports did the rounds that Varun Gandhi might contest from the seat as an independent candidate. The suspense ended on Wednesday when he did not turn up before the nominations ended at 3 pm on the day.

His mother Maneka Gandhi, the sitting MP from Sultanpur, was, however, given another chance from the same seat by the BJP.

The Pilibhit seat has remained with Maneka Gandhi or her son Varun Gandhi since 1996.

Maneka Gandhi won the seat on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989, lost in 1991 and won again in 1996. She won from the constituency in 1998 and 1999 as an Independent candidate. She won the seat in 2004 and 2014 as a BJP candidate.

Varun Gandhi won the seat in 2009 and 2019 as a BJP candidate.

Addressing a rally after Prasada filed the nomination papers, Chaudhary said, "Varun Gandhi is a senior leader and the party will soon give him some task." Swatantra Dev Singh said, "Varun Gandhi is our leader and the party will use him at some other place." The main opposition, the Samajwadi Party, has made Bhagwat Saran Gangwar its candidate from Pilibhit. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Anis Ahmed Khan as its nominee from the constituency.