Two recent tweets by Feroze Varun Gandhi urging the Uttar Pradesh government to review the decision of suspending the licence of Sanjay Gandhi hospital in Amethi, have a lot of political significance that cannot be overlooked.
Amethi was the constituency which was originally nurtured by Sanjay Gandhi, who after losing in 1977 to Janata Party’s Ravinder Pratap Singh Singh, won it in 1980 by a very convincing margin. Following his untimely death in a plane crash, Rajiv Gandhi contested and won from there and remained an MP till his assassination.
Subsequently, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were elected from the area considered to be a Gandhi bastion till Union Minister Smriti Irani of the BJP wrested the seat from Rahul in the 2019 Parliamentary polls.
However, by showing his repeated concern at the shutting down of a hospital named after his father, Varun has perhaps made his intentions clear regarding the possibility of his contesting from there at some juncture. Although the BJP holds the seat, yet there is an overwhelming undercurrent for the Gandhis in the area. Both Rahul and Priyanka have failed to make inroads in UP, and thus if the seat ever returns to the Gandhis, it can only be if Varun fights from there, either as a BJP nominee or on some other party’s ticket.
As things stand today, two out of the five Assembly segments of Amethi (Amethi proper and Gauriganj) are represented by Samajwadi Party MLAs. It is also well known that Varun has been a Young Turk within the BJP, and has opposed his party decisions from within, on multiple issues. It is also a fact that he enjoys a good rapport with Akhilesh Yadav, at least better than what the Congress Gandhis’ relationship with the Samajwadi chief. Therefore, in the unlikely event of Varun leaving the BJP, and seeking a ticket from Samajwadi Party, he would be a very formidable candidate.
The licence of the Sanjay Gandhi hospital was suspended after the death of a woman there, and without proper investigations being conducted into this incident. The outcome is that the closure has caused immense hardships to the people, many of whom have to travel to Lucknow for medical assistance. In addition, the employees, who are all residents, are in great difficulty and have been running from pillar to post demanding the reopening.
There is local politics which is also at play, and the reason why Varun has jumped into this battle is apparently because the hospital is named after his father, and the foundation stone for the same was laid down by his grandmother, the late Indira Gandhi in 1982.
There is a clear dimension of the rivalry amongst Indira Gandhi’s grandchildren which is also visible in the unfolding events. There is no denying that after Sanjay’s passing away, his political legacy has kept the Congress relevant. All through the past 40 odd years, it were people who were chosen by Sanjay Gandhi, who have kept the Congress relevant and alive. Sanjay’s chosen ones included Pranab Mukherjee, Kamal Nath, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ashok Gehlot and many more.
Thus, in other words, the Congress started losing its momentum when the Gandhis tried to foist a new set of leaders, who took over control, with the rise of Rahul Gandhi, while seeking to sideline those who were close to his uncle. Although, within the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, because of his long experience and maturity, is trying to set things right, yet the Congress has a long way to go.
Amethi was one of the most backward areas of UP when Sanjay identified it as his future constituency in the mid-1970s. It was next to Rae Bareli from where Indira Gandhi and before that, her husband, Feroze Gandhi were elected. In 1977 Sanjay fought from there, helped by his closest friends, Kamal Nath and Akbar “Dumpy” Ahmed. The constituency was then in the Sultanpur district and an eminent IAS officer, the late Afsar Hussain was the Deputy Commissioner.
Even though Sanjay lost to the anti-Congress sentiment in 1977, he had established a permanent connect with the region. In fact, his widow, Maneka Gandhi is the sitting MP from Sultanpur, which was in 2014 represented by their son Varun. The short point is that the people of the area know both Varun and his mother, who had unsuccessfully contested against Rajiv Gandhi from Amethi in 1985.
The battle for Amethi is in a way a battle amongst the Gandhis where Sanjay’s son would want his father’s constituency to finally come to him, and thus make him the rightful claimant of his political legacy and the one left behind by his grandmother.
Last year there was speculation that Varun, who has crossed swords with the BJP leadership on many occasions, was headed towards the Congress. Rahul Gandhi, at this point had made it clear that there was no place for him since the ideology he had embraced was in variance with that of the Congress.
The RSS and the BJP, both realise the political importance of Varun and Maneka, who during the transition from the old building to the new premises, was recently accorded the privilege of addressing Parliament, being the senior most member of the august body. It is evident that the BJP would not want both mother and son, to look at other options.
However, Varun is keen to keep the Amethi connection alive and thus would accordingly take calibrated political steps in the future. Between us.