New Delhi: BJP leader Varun Gandhi moved a surrender plea in a local court in Pilibhit - 50 km from UP capital Lucknow - shortly after reaching the town where a case has been filed against him for his hate speeches.
The application was moved by his lawyers before Chief Judicial Magistrate Vipin Kumar and is slated to be taken up for hearing during the day.
The Barkhera and the Hardoi police stations in Pilibhit had registered the cases under Sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between classes), Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act 1951.
Twenty-nine-year-old Varun, who is making his electoral debut on a BJP ticket from Pilibhit, left Delhi earlier in the day but changed his route from Mordabad.
En route to Pilibhit, two vehicles of Varun's cavalcade were seized by the police on charges of breach of peace and violation of prohibitory orders.
Ahead of the BJP candidate's arrival, party workers and saffron activists clashed with police in Pilibhit and supporters shouting Jai Shri Ram tried to block roads to prevent the movement of police.
A large number of activists with saffron flags hailing Varun came on tractors and buses to the town and 50 of them were reportedly arrested after they blocked roads and clashed with the police.
Varun: The next Hindutva star
A day after withdrawing his bail plea in the Delhi High Court in a case of hate speech, Varun Gandhi – being hailed as Hindutva’s latest poster boy - left from Delhi for Pilibhit early on Saturday morning.
Varun's move is being seen as his next step to political stardom and he will do that in full public view.
Though his camp in the BJP is expected to draw political mileage from the issue, the party's leadership seems to be averse to the idea.
The estranged Nehru-Gandhi scion shot into limelight after his alleged anti-communal speeches in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit constituency, a seat represented by his mother Maneka Gandhi so far.
Following this, an FIR was lodged against Varun in Pilibhit on the direction of election authorities after CDs containing his anti-Muslim speeches surfaced. Varun's anticipatory bail granted by the Delhi High Court also expired yesterday.
Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had rejected his bail plea and this was cited by his lawyer as the reason for withdrawing the bail plea from the Delhi High Court.
"Keeping in view of Allahabad High Court order, we seek to withdraw the petition," senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appearing for Gandhi told the court on Friday.
While Varun has chosen to play the victim , trying to extract as much sympathy as possible from a polarised electorate, Saturday’s developments will only add to his equity as the upcoming face of Sangh Parivar ideology.
“Across the country, all political parties are supporting the Muslim community and the Hindu community is being abused, especially in Pilibhit. There is nothing wrong in what Varun Gandhi said. We support not only Varun Gandhi but anybody who talks of the well being of the Hindus. The RSS workers will sit together and decide about supporting Varun Gandhi,” says RSS’ Rajesh Kumar.
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