Aonla: Varun Gandhi may have been in the news for his hate campaign against Muslims but his mother Maneka Gandhi is playing it much safer. In her campaign at her constituency she stayed clear of any communal politics.
Barely 80 kilometer from Maneka Gandhi's stronghold untouched by her son's troubles lies the Aonla. This is Maneka's new constituency.
Her son Varun is in jail for making a hate speech against Muslims. But here campaigning for the first time in five years without him she ensures there's no trace of either Varun's speech controversy or any communal trace.
"I want votes of all religions and communities," announced Maneka Gandhi.
Maneka's speeches seem to focus only on developmental issues. Although her party workers have been spreading the word about Varun Gandhi to corner the sympathy votes but the effort will not have much impact, if any at all.
"Whatever she (Maneka) has done in Pilibhit, she'll have to reap the results of it," maintained Savaraj Singh, MP, Aonla.
But in this newly found constituency of nearly 12 lakh votes the majority live in villages. It's the political debut of Maneka Gandhi in Aonla, which will give her the edge among the Hindu Voters.
"We will vote for Maneka because the previous two people who we have voted for have done nothing. Let's see if she does," exclaimed a Hindu voter.
The Muslim voters also seem to be excited about voting for this Gandhian Bahu.
"She is from Gandhi family," said a Muslim voter.