Varun Gandhi, a BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, is in the eye of a storm for making inflammatory remarks with communal overtones, which saw the Election Commission slap a notice against the young scion of the estranged Gandhi family, who was also ticked off by his own party.

Rabid Vitriol

In his rabid vitriol against Muslims in a raised voice, at a recent election meeting in Pilibhit, from where he is being fielded, Varun Gandhi(29), son of late Sanjay  and Maneka Gandhi, was heard saying:

Yeh panjaa nahii hai, yeh kamal kaa haath hai. Yeh Kat*** ke gale ko Kaat degaa chunaav ke baad. Jai Shri Ram! Ram ji ki jai! Varun Gandhi Kaat daalega! Kaat denge us haath ko, Kaat denge, Kaat Daalega!  [This is not the (Congress symbol) ‘hand’, this is the hand of the ‘lotus’ (BJP's symbol). It will cut the throat of the (derogatory expletive for Muslims) after the elections... Varun Gandhi will cut... cut that hand]

Continuing in the same vein, the grandson of Indira Gandhi, is shown saying at another meeting:

"merii ek behan hai... to ek pamphlet chhapaa thaa jisme saare pratiyashiyoN kaa picture likhaa hua hai... toh meri behan... us saat aath saal bitiyaa ne kahaa... Bhaiyaa mujhe nahii pataa thaa ki aapke chhetra mein Osama bin Laden chunaav laR rahein hain... Maine kaha beta Osama bin Laden ko to America pakaR nahi liya lekin Varun Gandhi ke to pakaR mein bahut aane waale hain chunaav ke baad!  [I have a sister… there was a pamphlet with pictures of all the candidates… so my sister, this seven-eight years old girl told me, ‘I didn’t know that Osama bin Laden is contesting from your area.’ I told her, ‘America couldn’t get Osama, but lot of  people are going to be caught by Varun Gandhi after the elections.’]

***

kyaa yeh sach nahin hai… ki usko bola gaya ki mataaji aapka naam kyaa hai?... agar usne bolaa ki Bimla Devi, to usko kahaa ki dekhenge, sochenge... pehle paanch hazaar rupaye do... aur agar uska naam hai Saira Bano yaa jo bhi Begum Hukum Begum... hum to jaante nahin hain... badey daraawne naam hotey hain inke... Karimullah... Mazharullah.... agar raat ko kabhi dikh jaayen... to darr rahen hain... [Is it not true... that if (a woman) is asked her name and she says Bimla Devi, she is told we’ll see, we’ll think (as to whether or not she would get the aid), give us Rs 5,000 first... But if her name is Saira Bano or whatever begum Hukum Begum... I don’t even know... These people have such scary-sounding names... Karimullah, Mazharullah... If you ever encountered them at night, you’d be scared...]

***

"If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on the [Bhagavad] Gita that I will cut that hand."

That was not all. At another place, the great grandson of Jawahar Lal Nehru is heard saying,

"...agar kisi ne, kisii galat tatv ke aadmii ne, kisii Hindu pe haath uthaaya...to main [Bhagwad] Gita ki kasam khaake kehtaa hun kii main us haath ko kaat daalunga! [If any wrong element, raises his hand on any Hindu...I swear on the Bhagwad Gita that I will cut off that hand!]

Varun Gandhi is contesting from Pilibhit seat from where his mother Maneka Gandhi was elected in the last general election. Maneka Gandhi is contesting from Aonla parliamentary constituency this time.

BJP or Congress Culture?

Congress, headed by Varun's aunt Sonia Gandhi, was quick to condemn the remarks of Jawahar Lal Nehru's great-grandson as "unethical and against the law".

"It is condemnable.... He (Varun) is associated with a party which has this ideology (anti-Muslim) and culture," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in Delhi.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi came to his party's defence, snubbed Varun Gandhi, who is contesting his maiden election, saying the controversial speech is a manifestation of his family's past Congress culture and that his outbursts did not reflect BJP's traditional culture.

Naqvi, who is a BJP candidate from Rampur in UP, claimed "the traditional culture of BJP can never teach a person to speak so irresponsibly and offending any community".

But Varun, whose mother is also a BJP MP, denied the charge in his reply submitted to the District Magistrate M P Agarwal.

EC Notice

On a complaint from the Congress party, Varun was slapped with a notice by the Election Commission, charging him with violation of the model code of conduct for elections for his alleged communal remarks during a rally held on March 6 in Pilibhit.

"Notices have been issued to BJP candidate from Pilibhit and state unit president for their alleged communal remarks. They have been asked to submit their replies," election officials in Lucknow said.

The DM said that a complaint was received from the Congress against Varun on which an inquiry had been ordered. He said that the inquiry would be conducted by sub-divisional magistrate Bisalpur M S Akhtar.

"Making communal or casteist remarks amounts to violation of the model code of conduct," officials said.

BJP leader Chandan Mitra said the Election Commission has to take cognizance of the remarks.

"If the Commission comes to a conclusion that he (Varun) had indeed said it and it does violate the election code of conduct then obviously, the laws of the land must take precedence," he added.