Sultanpur ready to welcome Varun

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An artist amuses a foreign tourist with his moustache at the Shilpgram crafts fair in Udaipur, Rajasthan, on Saturday. — PTI

“Naam wahi jo kaam karaye, Sultanpur ka samman badhaye” — posters carrying this slogan along side a photograph of BJP MP Varun Gandhi have set the political cauldron on the boil in Sultanpur district.
A team of young men that is doing the rounds of all five assembly segments to mobilise youth in Sultanpur in favour of Varun’s candidature speaks cautiously but the excitement is still palpable.
“We are demanding that Mr Varun Gandhi should contest from Sultanpur because it was here that his father, late Sanjay Gandhi, built his political career from (Amethi was then a part of Sultanpur district). The youth of this constituency are rooting for Varun ji,” said Rakesh, one of the members of the team.
It was during a rally in 2009 that Mr Gandhi had announced that he would, one day, turn Sultanpur into his ‘karambhoomi’.
Old associates of late Sanjay Gandhi are also coming out of hibernation to welcome Varun Gandhi to Sultanpur.
“After Sanjay Gandhi’s demise, we have been completely sidelined in the Congress. If Varun does decide to contest from here, we will demolish party lines to work for him and support him,” says a senior Congress leader, Ram Ujagir Shukla, who was closely associated with late Sanjay Gandhi.
Former BSP MLA, Chandra Bhadra Singh a.k.a. Sonu Singh has also come out openly in favour of Mr Varun Gandhi.
“We need a leader like Varun Gandhi and his victory from Sultanpur is sure. The youth here wants someone with a clean image and a sincere heart and Varun fits the bill,” said Sonu Singh.
These old associates of late Sanjay Gandhi are planning to hold an informal meeting in the district after January 14 to discuss the issue. Thereafter, they plan to go to Delhi to meet Varun Gandhi (and his mother Maneka Gandhi) and persuade him to contest from Sultanpur.
Incidentally, the demand for Varun Gandhi to contest from Sultanpur comes at a time when his powerful cousin, Rahul Gandhi, is facing protests in his own constituency and the position of the sitting Congress MP from Sultanpur, Dr Sanjay Singh, is also not exactly perfect. While efforts to contact Mr Varun Gandhi remain futile, BJP leaders in UP said that if Mr Varun Gandhi shifted to Sultanpur, it would make a world of difference.