Varun Gandhi on Wednesday asserted he was proud of being a Hindu and an Indian and claimed he had not made any communal statement.
Under fire from BJP and others for his reported anti-Muslim speeches, an unapologetic Varun Gandhi on Wednesday asserted he was proud of being a Hindu and an Indian and claimed he had not made any communal statement.
Giving no signs of tendering an apology sought by his party, Varun, the 29-year-old BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit, said the video footage of his speeches was
"doctored" and saw a "political conspiracy" hatched to malign him.
"I am proud of my faith and not apologetic about it. I am a Gandhi, a Hindu and an Indian in the equal measure," he said.
Acting swiftly, the Election Commission had on Tuesday ordered filing of a criminal case against Varun for his alleged inflammatory speech with communal overtones and served
notice to the party seeking its explanation.
"I have been a victim of a political conspiracy. Those are not my words and that is not my voice. I have not made any communal statement," Varun, a scion of the estranged Gandhi family, told reporters here.
Varun, son of Maneka Gandhi, said the tape has been doctored and it was a "malicious attempt" to brand him communal. Senior BJP leader Shanawaz Hussain termed Varun's
remarks "shocking" and demanded an unconditional apology from him.
Another BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also assailed Varun's remarks saying they are a manifestation of his family's past Congress culture. Rattled by the controversy, the BJP asked its party candidates to observe caution and restraint in their speeches.
"We do not subscribe to such views," party spokesperson Siddarth Nath Singh said.
In no mood to relent, Varun said, "I am pro India and not anti-anybody...I want to ask the nation to stand by me."
He went on to add "my attempt has been to restore confidence in a community that has been under siege in its own country."
He said the video footage has been "doctored". It has been a malicious attempt to brand me as communal. There is no question of my having any ill feeling towards (any)
community," he said.
At a recent election meeting in Pilibhit from where he is making his electoral debut, Varun had reportedly said "this is not a 'Hand'(Congress symbol), it is the power of the
'Lotus' (BJP symbol). It will cut the head of ....... Jai Shri Ram."
He had also said if anyone raises a hand against Hindus and if they thought Hindus were weak and leaderless, he would cut his hand. Gandhi, however, claimed that the video footage of his speeches was tampered with.
Varun also wondered why the CD was made public after a gap of 12 days on March 16 whereas he made the speech on March 5.
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