With his communal speech-making in Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi is trying to carve out an identity as Hindutva’s new poster boy and strike out as a Gandhi in his own right, writes Rajdeep Sardesai in the Hindustan Times.
In the backlanes of Uttar Pradesh, Varun Feroze Gandhi is referred to as the ‘BJP ka Gandhi’. It’s a reference that is indicative of what’s been perhaps the 29-year-old poet-politician’s central dilemma in life so far: the struggle to carve an independent identity for himself outside of the Nehru-Gandhi legacy. His cousin, Rahul, has been bequeathed the keys to the family business. His aunt Sonia is the Supreme Leader of the Indian National Congress. Varun, and his mother, Maneka, have always been the ‘outsiders’, blessed with the surname of India’s most powerful political family but without any of the privileges.
Which is why the ‘other Gandhis’ have been forced to look for other career options. Maneka has found her niche in the world of animal rights activism. Varun too, judging from the content of his speeches in Pilibhit, now appears to have found his feet as the BJP’s new Hindutva posterboy.
Previously on AW:
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