Varun Gandhi Posters, Cavalcade Create Buzz In Allahabad; BJP Not Amused

Allahabad: Hundreds of hoardings featuring Varun Gandhi, fans and supporters cheering lustily as he drove in for the BJP's national executive in a cavalcade of over two dozen cars and a roadshow as he arrived in town - the buzz that Varun Gandhi generated in Allahabad was second only to the attention Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew.

The young BJP lawmaker's supporters made sure that if the party is looking for a face to project in Uttar Pradesh for the elections early next year, their leader's candidacy would be hard to miss.

But, NDTV has learned, the enthusiasm has not gone down well with the BJP's top brass. The company which printed the posters and pamphlets that projected Varun Gandhi, the lawmaker from Sultanpur in UP,  as the party held a two-day conclave, was swiftly identified by the BJP, which then obtained from it the names of those who had commissioned them to create the buzz that Varun Gandhi could be projected by the party as a counter to the Congress, which is said to be weighing the possibility of fielding a member of its first family the Gandhis in UP.
  A report, sources said, is likely to be prepared and submitted to the BJP leadership.

The top agenda at the Allahabad meet was discussing plans for elections in five states next year that top leaders including party chief Amit Shah and PM Modi attended.

But Varun Gandhi posters outnumbered those of any other leader. "These are not official hoardings and projection," said the BJP's state chief KP Maurya.

The official BJP hoardings - hundreds of them - feature Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Prime Minister Modi or Amit Shah or both. Projecting Mr Singh, an old UP hand, is part of the plan.
 Senior union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad dismissed conjecture on the names of possible chief ministerial candidates.

Sources in the BJP say Varun Gandhi has many credentials to be the BJP's face in UP, but there is one big problem. "Varun has always maintained a safe distance from directly attacking the Congress' first family due to obvious reasons. The coming election may see more of the Gandhis and that makes Varun not so suitable," a senior leader said.