Rajnath meets Varun,party cheers: Doosra Sanjay Gandhi

Asked if the BJP’s now trying to appropriate Sanjay,local BJP legislator Prajapalan Verma — with a Hindu Mahasabha – Swatantra Party lineage (his father and brother have represented the seat before him) — told The Indian Express: “Whether one likes it or not,Sanjay was a doer. Besides,not everyone in the group,cheering for Varun,is necessarily a BJP supporter”. Verma handles every detail concerning Gandhi at Etah.

The three-member BJP team spent around 20 minutes with Gandhi. “For someone,who has not harmed even a fly all his life,Varun has been slapped with these heinous charges. We are backing Varun politically,and legally. BSP Government in the state and Congress at the Centre are victimizing him,” said Rajnath Singh. The team said conditions in the Etah jail were relatively better than that in Pilibhit.

“Varun had to spend a harrowing time in Pilibhit jail,including rat bites,” said Nagendra. The Etah cell has just been equipped with a fan,though “mosquitoes remain the bugbear.”

Party leaders claim that after the alleged hate speech controversy and his NSA charge,they sense an upswing. Nagendra said that the “NSA-on-Varun-issue” is being “pursued zealously” all across state.Rajnath echoed this at a public meeting: “Sharir toot jaaye,lekin manobal nahin tutega,” he said,alluding to Varun Gandhi’s “resolve.”

After a Pilibhit chief judicial magistrate’s order,a family cook from Delhi prepares Gandhi’s food at Verma’s place. While he has been confined to a solitary cell (“due to security reasons”) he spends time with books and case papers — the matter comes up in the Supreme Court on April 13. “The Gita,Ramayana,and some books on international politics and sociology are keeping him company in the jail,” said Etah Jail Superintendent Viresh Raj. Raj,a regular at the jail badminton court every morning,along with four other jail officials,said he’s allowed Gandhi to play after he evinced an interest in the game.