Varun Gandhi has gone astray, show him the right path, says cousin Priyanka

Amethi: Claiming that her cousin Varun Gandhi has gone astray, Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday urged Congress workers in Amethi to vote against the BJP leader, who is contesting from the adjacent Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.

"He (Varun Gandhi) is definitely from my family, he is my brother. But he has gone astray. When a young one in the family chooses the wrong path, then the elders show them the right path, the right way. I urge all of you to show my brother the right path," Priyanka Gandhi told party workers at the Munishganj guest house in Amethi. The speech was captured on a cell phone camera. (Elections: full coverage)

Priyanka Gandhi, along with her mother, Congress President Sonia Gandhi,  was accompanying her brother Rahul Gandhi in Amethi as he filed his nomination, seeking a third consecutive term from the Lok Sabha constituency. (Read: Rahul Gandhi files nomination from Amethi)

Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi was quick to come to the defense of her son. "If serving your country is called diversion from the route then who has got diverted, let the country decide it," she told reporters. Maneka Gandhi and Varun had joined the BJP in 2004.

Priyanka's attack on Varun comes less than two weeks after the BJP leader had praised Rahul's work in Amethi by saying "I want to bring in a new form of politics. We need small-scale industries, the kind of self-help groups that Rahul-ji has set up successfully in Amethi, though I haven't seen his work personally." He, however, issued a clarification soon after. (Read: Comment on Rahul was not endorsement, says cousin Varun Gandhi)

When Varun, an MP from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, shifted to Sultanpur this time, he had ruled out campaigning against Rahul in neighbouring Amethi, a constituency represented in the past by both their fathers, Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi. Varun spoke of "lines of decency I would never cross." (Read: Varun Gandhi won't campaign against cousin Rahul)

Saturday was not the first time Priyanka has expressed her displeasure at Varun Gandhi's conduct. She had criticised the BJP leader in 2009 as well when he was booked for making hate-speeches. Priyanka had said that Varun should read the Bhagavad Gita.