Varun Gandhi thanks PM, party chief for declaring him BJP candidate from Pilibhit
BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah for declaring him the party's candidate from Pilibhit, which has traditionally been his mother Maneka Gandhi's Lok Sabha seat, and said that he had a "familial bond" with the place. The BJP announced candidates for 39 more seats for the Lok Sabha polls and swapped constituencies of the mother and son, putting to rest all speculation over Varun's fate. Maneka Gandhi will fight from Sultanpur which he had won in 2014. "I would like to thank the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji and Hon'ble BJP President Shri @AmitShah Ji for reposing their faith in me. I'm honoured to be returning to Pilibhit – with which I have a familial bond – and hope to make it a meaningful, issue-based election," tweeted Varun hours after the list was announced. It is believed that Maneka Gandhi had asked the BJP leadership to field her son from Pilibhit, from where she has won a number of times and which is seen a relatively safe seat for her family. Varun Gandhi had won from Pilibhit once in 2009. PTI
