New Delhi: BJP leader Varun Gandhi was "too busy" to campaign for his party in the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, his mother and union minister Maneka Gandhi said today. Campaigning ended in the state on Monday in a marathon election spread over seven rounds and 30 days (February 11-March 11), that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi address 23 public rallies and BJP chief Amit Shah and top union ministers campaign extensively as the BJP attempts to come back to power in UP after 15 years.
Mr Gandhi, the BJP member of Parliament from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, reportedly excused himself from campaigning in the state as he was upset that the party did not back him amid allegations that he was honey-trapped into revealing defence secrets last year. He did not feature in the first lists of star campaigners that the BJP released and when he was included, it was as an after thought, seen as damage control by the party amid threats of rebellion by Varun Gandhi's supporters in UP.
Maneka Gandhi would only say, "we will soon find out," when asked whether she thought not projecting a chief ministerial candidate would hurt the party in UP. The women and child development minister, who represents UP's Pilibhit in parliament, has campaigned a little.
Mr Gandhi, the BJP member of Parliament from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, reportedly excused himself from campaigning in the state as he was upset that the party did not back him amid allegations that he was honey-trapped into revealing defence secrets last year. He did not feature in the first lists of star campaigners that the BJP released and when he was included, it was as an after thought, seen as damage control by the party amid threats of rebellion by Varun Gandhi's supporters in UP.
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Maneka Gandhi would only say, "we will soon find out," when asked whether she thought not projecting a chief ministerial candidate would hurt the party in UP. The women and child development minister, who represents UP's Pilibhit in parliament, has campaigned a little.
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