Varun Gandhi’s acquittal angers congress
Gandhi accused of making hate speech against Muslim community
New Delhi: India’s ruling congress party is unhappy with the recent acquittal of an opposition leader by the court.
Principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s newly appointed general secretary Varun Gandhi was earlier this month acquitted by the Pilibhit court of Uttar Pradesh in the hate speech case after all 34 witnesses listed by the police turned hostile.
Gandhi, of India’s elite Gandhi-Nehru family represents Pilibhit constituency in the Lok Sabha. He was accused of making a hate speech and derogatory remarks against the Muslim community during his campaigning for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Senior congress party leader Beni Prasad Verma, who is a federal minister with cabinet rank, has blamed the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party of being in tactical understanding with the BJP in view of the Uttar Pradesh government’s dilemma over whether to challenge Varun Gandhi’s acquittal in a higher court.
Verma is known for his antipathy for the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. The two together had launched the Samajwadi Party. Verma however drifted away from Yadav and often takes potshots at him much to the discomfort of the congress party since its government at the centre is dependent on the Samajwadi Party’s outside support for its survival.
The Uttar Pradesh government, headed by Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav, has remained undecided over whether to challenge Varun Gandhi’s acquittal.
Samajwadi Party’s dilemma is that it does not want to make a hero out of Varun Gandhi ahead of the crucial general elections which are barely a year away.
Varun Gandhi along with parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi represents the other stream of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Varun is grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and cousin of the congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
His hate speech made Varun an instant hit with the radical Hindus, especially BJP’s ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), leading to his recent appointment as the national general secretary of the party.
The Samajwadi Party is sceptical that challenging Varun’s acquittal would not serve the party politically as it may united the pro-Hindu voters in view of the party’s quest to increase its tally in the Lok Sabha from the present 22.
Uttar Pradesh elects the maximum 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. The party feels anything in excess of 40 seats would strengthen claim of Yadav to become the next prime minister, in case both the congress party-led United Progressive Alliance and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance fail to cross the halfway mark.
