Nehru-Gandhi clan splits politically

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (C) is presented with a bouquet of flowers by Varun Gandhi (R) as former union minister and Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi (L) looks on prior to a meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Maneka and her son Varun Gandhi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party President Venkaiah Naidu and General Secretary Pramod Mahajan.. PHOTO: AFP

Twenty three-year-old Varun, educated in Britain, and Maneka, a former federal minister, met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here last afternoon and formally joined BJP, confirming what had been in the air for quite some time.

Immediately after joining BJP, Varun told a television news channel that his political idol was his grandmother and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who he said not only gave leadership but motherhood to India.

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Replying to a question, Varun said he held his aunt Sonia Gandhi, the Italy-born chief of main opposition Congress Party, and her siblings Rahul and Priyanka in great esteem and he would never campaign against them in the coming elections or criticize them.

Answering another question, he, however, said the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi was an issue before the country but not the main issue. Varun said Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka are related to him through blood and there is no connection between blood and politics.

To a question whether Sonia Gandhi would not be acceptable as the Prime Minister, he said, "Yes, I agree."

Asked how he viewed the situation in view of the family members coming out in different directions, Varun said, "The situation was quite different 20 years ago...political thinking may differ... they are alright in the Congress and we will be in the BJP.

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According to him, it is quite normal in a healthy democracy that there could be different political thinking in the same family.

However, political observers believe the BJP is going to project Maneka and Varun to counter Rahul-Priyanka in the parliamentary election campaign in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the highest number of members to Lok Sabha and is home to Jawaharlal Nehru-Indira Gandhi clan.

Notwithstanding Varun's assertion that he would refrain from criticizing his aunt and her children, observers say that with Maneka and her son joining the BJP, the stage is set for a political battle between the Gandhis. After her husband's death in an air crash, Maneka had left the Indira Gandhi household and set up Sanjay Vichar Manch and campaigned against Congress.