Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency, one of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh, is currently held by the BJP’s Maneka Gandhi who has represented the seat in Lok Sabha six times, first winning it in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket. Since first winning from Pilibhit, Gandhi has lost only one election in 1991 when BJP's Parashuram defeated her in the elections held in the backdrop of Ramjanmabhoomi movement.
In 2009, she vacated the seat for her son Varun Gandhi who was making his political debut. Varun, who was even sent to jail for hate speech during the election campaigning, won with a margin of 2.8 lakh votes. Varun had allegedly made inflammatory remarks against Muslims in his speeches at public meetings in Pilibhit during the 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign.
Video recordings of the controversial speech apparently showed Gandhi as saying that he would "cut off the hand that is raised against Hindus ... If you want to save the Hindu religion, vote for me. If a Hindu doesn’t vote for me, he would be betraying his religion.”
The BJP leader was booked under the National Security Act, various sections of the IPC and the People's Representation Act for promoting enmity and acts prejudicial against communal harmony. He spent more than two weeks in jail and was released after a Supreme Court order.
Now he is back in Pilibhit as his mother has moved to Sultanpur, currently held by him. His statements this time are in total contrast with the remarks made 10 years ago.
Days after his mother Maneka Gandhi was embroiled in a controversy for allegedly making communal remarks against a particular community, Varun Gandhi on Sunday said that it won't be a problem if Muslims will not vote for him.
"I want to say just one thing to my Muslim brothers. I will be very happy if you vote for me. But even if you don't, no problem at all. You can still come to me for your work (aap fir bhi mujhse kam le lena)," he said while addressing an election rally.
"But if your sugar gets mixed with my tea, then my tea will become sweeter," he added.
His comments are in complete contrast to what her mother Maneka Gandhi had said. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on April 12 had said in a public address in Sultanpur that her win from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency was certain "with or without" the support of the Muslims and the community should realise it since they will need to get their work done once BJP is in power.
Pilibhit constituency is synonymous with Maneka Gandhi, having sent her to Lok Sabha six times - twice as Janata Dal candidate, twice as independent and twice as a BJP candidate. This time, With Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party uniting against the BJP, it will be interesting to see if Varun Gandhi, pitted against SP's Hemraj Verma, will be able to retain his family's bastion.
The Congress has not fielded a candidate from here and has left the seat for its ally Apna Dal. Shivpal Singh Yadav's Pragateesheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) has fielded Haneef Mansoori.
The Parliamentary constituency comprises five legislative assembly segments - Baheri, Barkhera, Bisalpur, Pilibhit and Puranpur.
UP is facing a three-pronged battle between the BJP, the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD alliance. Under the alliance's seat-sharing formula, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on 37 seats and the Chaudhary Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on three seats. The alliance has left two for Congress' Sonia Gandhi (Raebareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
The polling for the third phase is to be held on April 23 for ten Lok Sabha seats in the Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The results of the Lok Sabha election 2019 will be declared on May 23.
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