Denied Ticket, What's Next For Varun Gandhi? Mother Maneka Gandhi Says...

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Maneka Gandhi on Saturday said that she has "faith" in his son Varun Gandhi, who was not picked to defend his Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit.

Speaking to NDTV, Ms Gandhi said that she respects the party's decision to field a different candidate.

"I cannot challenge the party's decision and I respect it. I have so much faith in Varun Gandhi. He is a capable person and will do his best," the former Union Minister said.

"Some people become a Member of Parliament and some become a politician without being an MP," Ms Gandhi told NDTV and drew a parallel with Chandra Shekhar, who was the first Indian prime minister who had never held any prior government office.

"You never know what life has in store for you," the Sultanpur MP, also a noted environmental activist, said.

Varun Gandhi is a two-time MP from Pilibhit, which has been a family affair since 1989 when it was won by Maneka Gandhi.

On Fighting From Sultanpur

Maneka Gandhi, who is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur, said that she is happy that she has been given the opportunity again to serve the people of the constituency.

On being asked about her prediction on how many votes she would get, the eight-time MP said that she is trying her best every day to get as many votes as she can.

On Rahul Gandhi Contesting From Raebareli

On being asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi contesting from the neighboring Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, Maneka Gandhi said that she doesn't comment on other leaders.

"I never comment on other leaders. If they're fighting, they should be happy," she said.

Mr Gandhi has been attacked by various other BJP leaders for deciding not to make an attempt to win back the family bastion of Amethi and contesting from the relatively safe seat of Raebareli. His mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had held the Raebareli constituency since 2004 before moving to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

On Inheritance Tax

She also spoke on the row over Sam Pitroda's comment that the inheritance tax in the US was an interesting law and could contain issues that people can debate. Ms Gandhi said that it would be "unfair" to have an inheritance tax.

"I am against the inheritance tax. I just think it's unfair to have an inheritance tax. A person tries to earn for his children his whole life and then you half of it. It would be good for other countries but I don't think it's right for India," she said.

Mr Pitroda, who was an advisor to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and has been closely associated with his son Rahul Gandhi, accompanying him during his foreign visits, had last month stoked a debate over the BJP's allegations that the Congress is planning a redistribution of wealth if it comes to power at the Centre after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, 55 per cent is grabbed by the government. That's an interesting law. It says you in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," Mr Pitroda had told the news agency ANI.

The Congress, however, had distanced itself from the senior leader's remarks and said they did not reflect the party's position.