Varun Gandhi a headache for both

A week before his hate speech in Pilibhit, a deeply worried Varun Gandhi had sought out a senior BJP MP with a considerable clout among Kurmis of Rohilkhand, to spare at least two days to help him campaign in his constituency. That was then.

The sudden upsurge of support for Varun in Pilibhit is such that the BJP is exploring the possibility of taking him on a whistle-stop tour if he is released during the polls. There are also demands from other BJP candidates to get him to campaign for them. But Varun, in many ways, also presents a dilemma for the BJP.

Some BJP leaders in Delhi are worried that if he is given a free run, he might grow into a Frankenstein, whom they may not be able to control. “It may be ok at the local level, but a national party like ours cannot indulge in this divisive politics at the national level,” says a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.

It’s not the BJP alone that is worried. The Congress, too, is busy drawing up plans to counter the BJP’s new poster boy. The party’s political managers are keeping a close watch on developments related to Varun.

Apart from the fact that if Varun emerges a Hindutva icon he will breath new life into the party’s moribund UP unit, the concern in Congress circles is that the BJP will then try and pit him against Rahul Gandhi as a youth icon.