Varun Gandhi addresses election rally in UP's Sultanpur, mother Maneka's battlefield

Sultanpur: BJP leader and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi reached Sultanpur on Thursday to campaign for his mother Maneka Gandhi who is in the fray from the seat on a BJP ticket.

Addressing a poll meeting, Varun Gandhi highlighted the close connection of her mother with the public.

"Elections are going on everywhere in the country... but there is only one region in the country where people don't call their MP, Sansad ji, Mantri ji, or by her name, but call her mata ji," Varun Gandhi said amid applause from the people gathered to hear him.

Speaking with PTI Videos, Maneka Gandhi said, "Varun Gandhi is here and he will do 15-20 meetings today. His campaigning will certainly benefit us." She also urged voters to vote keeping their personal interest in mind. "They should think which MP can do their work and then vote." This is the first time Varun Gandhi has addressed any such rally this election season. He has remained out of the public space ever since he was replaced by the party with Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, which went to polls in the first phase.

A former MP from Sultanpur, Varun Gandhi swapped the seat with his mother in 2019, the year he recorded a thumping majority in Pilibhit and Maneka won from Sultanpur.

Voting in Sultanpur is scheduled to take place on May 25 in the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

The campaigning for the sixth phase will end on Thursday by 6 pm. Maneka Gandhi is pitted against Ram Bahadur Nishad of Samajwadi Party and Uday Raj Verma of Bahujan Samaj Party.