thestringshredder
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Our future is in centrist, liberal, inclusive politics: Varun Gandhi
SULTANPUR: The SUV Varun Gandhi uses to go from Shastri Nagar in Sultanpur to remote Kuchhmuchh, a village on the banks of the Gomti populated by families of Nishad boatmen, throws up dust so thick that the driver can't see.
In his mind, though, Varun is clear. "The future of India lies in centrist, liberal and inclusive politics," he says. "I tell people that when they give their vote in the name of religion and caste, instead of schools and roads, they are throwing it away cheap."
The man who shifted from Pilibhit - where he is the sitting MP and now has his mother Maneka Gandhi fighting on a BJP ticket - to Sultanpur for these Lok Sabha elections seems almost uncomfortable in an atmosphere that with Narendra Modi's projection as the party's PM is communally surcharged like never before.
He hardly invokes Modi in his meetings - in Kuchhmuchh and Baroi not even once - and sometimes skips even the BJP, reminding his audience, however, of his symbol. "You have given people who have lit fires a chance," he exhorts. "Now give an opportunity to someone who will douse them."
He clarifies the Modi point. "It's not that I don't take his name. I do in the towns. But I try to keep it simple, mindful of what it is that they need most, what they connect with. No need for highfalutin jargon here."
It's a far cry from the time Varun, 34, was booked, to be acquitted four years later, for two alleged hate speeches in 2009. "I was shattered," he says, talking about the charges.
The marks of that burn are still visible and Varun hates any mention of it. Instead he talks about his core dictating his politics now. "If politics defines my core, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night," he says.
It's almost as if he wants to go as far away as possible from the deep polarisation and pettiness that has marked these polls, the Muzaffarnagar riots adding another dimension to it in UP.
On a few occasions, his "large-heartedness", as he calls it, has backfired. Like the time his praise for some work in Rahul Gandhi's Amethi became such a huge controversy that he had to qualify the comment. He also refused to engage with cousin Priyanka when she recently said Varun had gone "astray" and that he needed to be shown the right path.
"But why should politics be like a gladiatorial battle," he asks. "Not just Priyanka, I never mention any of my opposition contestants or parties. I am willing to work hard for the constituency and people should vote me for that."
Varun, up against the Congress's Amita Singh and the BSP's Pawan Pandey, will have his job cut out in case he wins from the constituency his father Sanjay Gandhi was once closely associated with. Electricity is erratic, often coming for a mere six-seven hours, the roads are a nightmare, medical facilities scarce, educational institutions backward and poverty rampant.
As if to remind him of that, a small group of women in a village full of mud and straw houses crowds around the window of his car with desperate entreaties. "Saheb," one of them says. "Please do something for us, we are in a bad way."
The problems are too many for them to enumerate in the short time that the vehicle is held up. Varun Gandhi closes his eyes as the SUV speeds away. He then plugs in his ear phones and listens to the Beatles.
Link - Our future is in centrist, liberal, inclusive politics: Varun Gandhi - The Times of India
SULTANPUR: The SUV Varun Gandhi uses to go from Shastri Nagar in Sultanpur to remote Kuchhmuchh, a village on the banks of the Gomti populated by families of Nishad boatmen, throws up dust so thick that the driver can't see.
In his mind, though, Varun is clear. "The future of India lies in centrist, liberal and inclusive politics," he says. "I tell people that when they give their vote in the name of religion and caste, instead of schools and roads, they are throwing it away cheap."
The man who shifted from Pilibhit - where he is the sitting MP and now has his mother Maneka Gandhi fighting on a BJP ticket - to Sultanpur for these Lok Sabha elections seems almost uncomfortable in an atmosphere that with Narendra Modi's projection as the party's PM is communally surcharged like never before.
He hardly invokes Modi in his meetings - in Kuchhmuchh and Baroi not even once - and sometimes skips even the BJP, reminding his audience, however, of his symbol. "You have given people who have lit fires a chance," he exhorts. "Now give an opportunity to someone who will douse them."
He clarifies the Modi point. "It's not that I don't take his name. I do in the towns. But I try to keep it simple, mindful of what it is that they need most, what they connect with. No need for highfalutin jargon here."
It's a far cry from the time Varun, 34, was booked, to be acquitted four years later, for two alleged hate speeches in 2009. "I was shattered," he says, talking about the charges.
The marks of that burn are still visible and Varun hates any mention of it. Instead he talks about his core dictating his politics now. "If politics defines my core, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night," he says.
It's almost as if he wants to go as far away as possible from the deep polarisation and pettiness that has marked these polls, the Muzaffarnagar riots adding another dimension to it in UP.
On a few occasions, his "large-heartedness", as he calls it, has backfired. Like the time his praise for some work in Rahul Gandhi's Amethi became such a huge controversy that he had to qualify the comment. He also refused to engage with cousin Priyanka when she recently said Varun had gone "astray" and that he needed to be shown the right path.
"But why should politics be like a gladiatorial battle," he asks. "Not just Priyanka, I never mention any of my opposition contestants or parties. I am willing to work hard for the constituency and people should vote me for that."
Varun, up against the Congress's Amita Singh and the BSP's Pawan Pandey, will have his job cut out in case he wins from the constituency his father Sanjay Gandhi was once closely associated with. Electricity is erratic, often coming for a mere six-seven hours, the roads are a nightmare, medical facilities scarce, educational institutions backward and poverty rampant.
As if to remind him of that, a small group of women in a village full of mud and straw houses crowds around the window of his car with desperate entreaties. "Saheb," one of them says. "Please do something for us, we are in a bad way."
The problems are too many for them to enumerate in the short time that the vehicle is held up. Varun Gandhi closes his eyes as the SUV speeds away. He then plugs in his ear phones and listens to the Beatles.
Link - Our future is in centrist, liberal, inclusive politics: Varun Gandhi - The Times of India
