Indian election: Varun Gandhi vows to follow in father’s footsteps

Varun Gandhi, the scion of India’s Congress Party dynasty who is standing for the rival Hindu nationalists in the general election, has vowed to revive controversial population control policies pioneered by his late father.

Sanjay Gandhi, who was the anointed successor of the former prime minister Indira Gandhi until his death in 1980, was blamed for a policy which forced thousands of Indian men and some women to be sterilised to meet government quotas. Some are believed to have died following the surgery.

Mr Gandhi said that while the methods used by the government at that time were “roughshod” and considered by many to be “too forceful”, he still believed

India

‘s population “explosion” required urgent action.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Gandhi, 29, who is standing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said he hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps by one day offering the strong leadership which he said

India

had lacked for 20 years.

Seeking to shed his image as a spoiled playboy and adopt the mantle of a future prime minister, he said that politics was his destiny. “Anyone who says they have no ambition to achieve power at some stage is lying,” he said.

He would also propose a bill in parliament to introduce compulsory military service for all Indians to unite the country and overcome caste and religious differences. “Instead of people thinking of themselves as Tamils or Brahmins, they should think of themselves as Indians,” he said.

His ambition to wield power in Indian politics raises the prospect of the country’s two largest parties one day being led by rival scions of the Gandhi dynasty which has given

India

three prime ministers since independence. His cousin Rahul is widely tipped to succeed his mother Sonia as Congress leader.

Mr Gandhi galvanised the Indian election campaign, which culminates with a final round of voting next week, with a controversial speech in which he was reported to have threatened to “cut off the hands” of Muslims in his Pilhibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh if they “raised a finger against Hindus”.

In March he was jailed for 20 days under

India

‘s National Security Act for threatening communal harmony. BJP support in the northern state has risen significantly since his speech, however.

Mr Gandhi denied on Friday that he had ever threatened Muslims, but had vowed to protect local people from “anti-social” elements after three local girls were gang-raped.

As he toured his constituency in a convoy accompanied by armed guards, he made a clear reference to his controversial stand when he told voters that he was “fighting for your self-respect”.

Mr Gandhi appears to have absorbed generations of political knowledge from his great-grandfather

Jarwarharlal Nehru

,

India

‘s first prime minister, his grand-mother Indira Gandhi and his late uncle Rajiv. His mother, Maneka Gandhi, has also served several terms as a cabinet minister.

But it is his father he hopes to follow.

Indian election: Varun Gandhi vows to follow in father’s footsteps

 

Varun Gandhi, the scion of India’s Congress Party dynasty who is standing for the rival Hindu nationalists in the general election, has vowed to revive controversial population control policies pioneered by his late father.

New Delhi

: BJP candidate for Pilibhit Varun Gandhi on Saturday denied having favoured forced sterilisation in an interview to a British newspaper.

In a statement, Mr. Gandhi said he did not say anything about reviving any sterilisation programme or policy; in fact, he broadly favoured “a sensible family planning programme” through education, awareness and positive incentives.

The Daily Telegraph, which carried the interview, said in the introduction that Mr. Gandhi “vowed to revive the controversial population control policies pioneered by his late father [Sanjay Gandhi].” This generated interpretation that Mr. Gandhi might have been talking about forced sterilisation. However, the newspaper said “this is not true.”— PTI