Varun Gandhi may contest as an Independent

BJP MP Varun Gandhi might contest the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate if the saffron party does not give him a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to fight again from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, sources said. His representatives bought nomination papers from there.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Varun Gandhi contested from Pilibhit and secured the seat for a third term. The sources said that Varun Gandhi's representatives bought four sets of nomination papers for the Pilibhit seat and went back to the national capital.

The BJP is yet to hold a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting to decide a candidate for Pilibhit.

Meanwhile, all state-level BJP leaders opposed giving a ticket to Varun Gandhi at the core committee meeting.

  Last year, in an apparent dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Varun Gandhi advised people not to "disrupt a nearby sadhu" as nobody knows "when 'Maharaj ji' will become the Chief Minister". 

In Septemeber 2023, he derided the Uttar Pradesh BJP government over the suspension of the license of Amethi’s Sanjay Gandhi Hospital after the death of a patient. He took to social media platform X and said "Resentment against a naam (name) should not spoil the kaam (work) for people".