After being denied a ticket from the Pilibhit for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,
BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday penned an emotional letter to the people of his parliamentary constituency, saying his relationship with them will remain the same until his last breath.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier announced Uttar Pradesh Public Works Minister Jitin Prasada as its candidate from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat replacing
Varun Gandhi, who, in recent times, has been vocal against the NDA government over issues like inflation and unemployment.
Prasada, who left the Congress party and joined the BJP in 2021, filed his nomination from this seat on Wednesday.
In a letter shared by him on the social media site X, Varun Gandhi noted that his relationship with Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit is one of love and trust, which is over any political calculations.
“Today, when I am writing this letter, countless memories have made me emotional,” Varun Gandhi wrote, recalling the time he came to Pilibhit for the first time in 1983 as a three-year-old child holding the fingers of his mother,
Maneka Gandhi.“Little did that child know that one day this land would become his workplace and the people here would be his family,” he wrote.
He shared that the ideals given by Pilibhit were instrumental in his “upbringing and development” as a person, besides being the MP. He added that representing Pilibhit in Lok Sabha has been the “greatest honour of my life and I have always raised my voice for your interests to the best of my ability”.
Varun Gandhi won the general elections from this seat in 2009 and 2019 as a BJP candidate.
He noted that his tenure as a Lok Sabha MP might be coming to an end, but his relationship with Pilibhit can't end "till my last breath."
“If not as an MP, then at least as a son, I am committed to serving you throughout my life and my doors will always remain open for you as before,” he said.
He shared that he joined politics to raise the voice of the common man and sought blessings from people to continue doing this work.
Since 1996, the Pilibhit seat has remained a bastion of Varun Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi. However, this will be the first time in over three decades that they will not be in the fray from this Lok Sabha seat -- situated in the Terai belt bordering Nepal.
The BJP denied him a ticket from Pilibhit did not come as a surprise for many as he has been criticising the government on issues related to farmers, health and jobs.
Earlier, there were speculations that Varun Gandhi might contest this seat as an Independent candidate. However, the speculations were put to rest on Wednesday when he did not turn up before the filing of nominations ended.
Meanwhile, the BJP has given Maneka Gandhi, the sitting MP from Sultanpur, another chance from the same seat.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
