As Varun Gandhi courted controversy by “praising” estranged cousin Rahul Gandhi, his mother and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday said her son’s remark on Amethi’s development was “not correct”.
The advise came after Varun Gandhi, BJP candidate from Sultanpur, praised Rahul Gandhi’s initiatives in ushering in development in the neighbouring constituency of Amethi. The comment created a political furore with some political pundits indicating thaw in relations between two cousins.
later in the day, Varun clarified that he was not backing Rahul. “It should not be seen as an endorsement of any political party or candidate,” the BJP leader tweeted.
But it was too late.
Maneka Gandhi said: ‘’Varun should think twice before making any statement. He is very innocent and gets carried away very easily.”
“Someone said a lot of developmental work has happened in Amethi and Varun accepted it without verifying the facts,” she said. Varun should confirm the facts first before believing anyone and issue any statement accordingly, the former Union Minister said.
Maneka Gandhi claimed that the developmental works in Amethi, which happens to be parliamentary constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, had not been very satisfactory in the past 45 years.