BJP prepares to unleash Varun against cousin

New Delhi: The BJP is pushing a challenger to Congress’ rising star Rahul Gandhi. Varun Feroze Gandhi, the youngest scion of Nehru-Gandhi family, is all set to take on the Amethi MP.

But for the moment, he is gearing up to take up his first real political challenge, contesting a bye-election from Vidisha parliamentary seat in Madhya Pradesh.

While their mothers are not known to be on talking terms, cousins Rahul, Priyanka and Varun share a cordial relationship.

Varun has scrupulously avoided any criticism of his aunt Sonia and cousins Rahul and Priyanka and had even attacked party colleague Narendra Modi for targeting them. However, the BJP still wants him to take on Rahul in the Lok Sabha, where it lacks effective speakers.

Varun is liked by those who matter in the BJP. He gets along with the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition L K Advani, party president Rajnath Singh and the RSS top brass. 

Twenty-six-year old Varun has matured fast for his age. Sure of himself that the BJP will nominate him from Vidisha, Varun has already commissioned a Bhopal based private agency to do the background work.

By now, the BJP young dynamo has all the relevant details that could help in managing the election, total number of booths, profile of voters, their gender, age, status and the percentage of polling in past elections. Varun has set an ambitious goal for himself but getting elected to Lok Sabha is obviously the first major step.