After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided not to field Varun Gandhi, the current Member of Parliament from Pilibhit, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury extended an offer to the leader, asking him to join the party.The senior Congress leader addressing the media here on Tuesday alleged that Varun Gandhi has been denied a BJP ticket due to his connection with Gandhi's family."He should come here. We would be happy. He is an educated man. He has a clean image. BJP denied him a ticket because he is related to the Gandhi family. I think he should come (to Congress)," the Congress leader said.
The BJP on Sunday announced its fifth list of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, dropping Varun Gandhi from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and retaining his mother, Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur.Varun, who represented the high-profile seat two times, has been replaced with former Congress leader Jitin Prasada to contest from the Pilibhit seat in Uttar Pradesh in 2024 Lok Sabha Polls.For quite some time now, speculation has been rife that Varun may not be fielded by the saffron party in 2024 because he attacked some of his party’s policies over the past few years. The Pilibhit MP has recently been vocal against the BJP on several issues, including employment and health. Some reports suggested that he would contest the elections either as an independent or as a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate.Varun allegedly also criticised the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh on several occasions.