War of Gandhis in Indian election

Varun Gandhi, son of family black sheep Maneka Gandhi and one of the heirs to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has supplied India with three Congress party prime ministers, declared his support last week for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He nailed his colors to the BJP mast just a month after his cousins, brother-and-sister duo Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, were mobbed as they campaigned for the main opposition Congress party which dominated India's first half-century of independence. The "Gen Next" family political soap opera looks like providing the main drama in elections due in around two months that appear for the moment as though they will be a walkover for the BJP and its allies against the secular Congress.

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Asked if he would campaign directly against his cousins, seen as more photogenic and politically savvy than himself, the 24-year-old Varun said, "I will try hard not to campaign against Rahul and Priyanka because family and party are separate. But I will follow my partys ideals."

For political watchers, the move raises the tantalising possibility of a BJP Gandhi one day battling a Congress Gandhi for India's leadership.

After months of deriding Congress for seeking to exploit the Gandhis' dynastic appeal, analysts say the BJP may use Varun in pivotal states such Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where the Gandhi name still has magic.