Will Varun Gandhi quit BJP and contest from Amethi ? Here's what reports say…

livemint.com:

Varun Gandhi, reports suggested, will fight the election as an independent candidate from Amethi, with outside support from the Congress and Samajwadi party alliance. The two parties sealed the seat-sharing formula and Amethi and Rae Bareli are the two seats which the Congress got in deal. Amethi was earlier held for 15 years by Varun's cousin Rahul Gandhi, who was defeated by BJP leader and now Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

Rahul , however, won the second seat in Wayanad, in Kerala and is likely to seek re-election from there in 2024 polls too. Residents of Amethi are now inclined towards Varun Gandhi, according to a report in news agency IANS said. This, the report said, comes since Rahul is not keen to contest Amethi, the seat that was once won by his father in 1980.

Varun is unlikely to be fielded by BJP in 2024 for breaking ranks. The 43-year-old Pilibhit MP has for long been taking a critical stand on many issues against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the centre and Yogi Adityanath-led state government in Uttar Pradesh. In December, Varun slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for allowing sale of alcohol at railway stations on the lines of liquor outlets at airports.

Prior to that, in October 2023, he took on the Yogi Adityanath administration over suspending the licence of the Sanjay Gandhi hospital in Amethi. Later, the Allahabad High Court stayed the suspension, eliciting praise from the BJP leader. In 2020-21, Varun was the only BJP leader who had come out in support of farmer protests.