'If Not As An MP, I'll Serve You As A Son': Varun Gandhi's Emotional Letter To Pilibhit

BJP leader Varun Gandhi has been dropped by the party from the Pilibhit seat. (File image: PTI)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi has made an emotional appeal to the people of Pilibhit a day after he was denied the Lok Sabha ticket from the seat and Jitin Prasada was announced as a candidate instead. Gandhi posted a letter on micro-blogging website X saying he will continue to serve the people of Pilibhit even though his term as an MP is coming to an end.

“My term as Pilibhit MP may be ending, but my relationship with Pilibhit will not end till my last breath. I seek your blessings to continue to raise the voice of the common man, no matter what price I have to pay for it,” Gandhi wrote in his letter.

Recalling the forst time he came to Pilibhit, Gandhi said, “I remember the 3-year-old child who came to Pilibhit in 1983 for the first time, holding his mother’s hand. Little did I know that this land will become my workplace and its people will become my family.”

He also said that he will serve the people of Pilibhit as a son if not as an MP. “If not as an MP, then as a son, I am committed to serve you throughout my life and my doors will always remain open for you as before. I came into politics to raise the voice of the common man and today I seek your blessings to always continue doing that, no matter at what cost,” Gandhi wrote.

The Pilibhit seat has been a stronghold of the Sanjay Gandhi family since 1989. Maneka Gandhi registered her maiden Lok Sabha victory from Pilibhit in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket. In 1991, she lost the seat to Parshuram Gangwar, a BJP candidate, but won it back in 1996, under the Janata Dal’s banner. After this, her winning streak continued in 1998, 1999, and 2004 as an independent candidate.

In 2009, her son Varun made his debut and won Pilibhit on a BJP ticket. In 2014, Maneka Gandhi won the seat on a BJP ticket, after which Varun again emerged victorious on a BJP ticket in 2019.