Varun Gandhi Praises Nehru's Sacrifice for India
In a huge embarrassment to the party, BJP MP, Varun Gandhi went all out in praising one of the Congress stalwarts Jawaharlal Nehru while he recalled the sacrifice he had made for the country. Addressing participants at a youth conclave, he said, "People think that Nehru became the first prime minister and lived a lavish life like a king, full of comfort and luxury. What they do not know is Nehru spent 15 and half years in jail to achieve that''. "If today someone puts me in jail and says that after 15 years we will make you the PM, I will say, 'pardon me; it is too taxing'.'' He said as youth, it was their responsibility to understand that Nehru sacrificed his life, family and "bore wounds on his body'' to free India. He added that this freedom should not be wasted.
Gandhi also said that people did not know the thoughts of today's top leaders on key issues as winning elections had become the sole criterion to become a big politician. "A farmer in Kerala, KT Thomas, could not repay Rs 3,000 loan and ultimately committed suicide. On the other hand, Vijay Mallya who secured bank loans of Rs 4,500 crore fled India and it seems like he will never come back," he said. Varun said 82% of successful young politicians have political background. "My name is Feroze Varun Gandhi, if my name would have been Feroze Varun Ahmed, or Tiwari, or Singh, or Prasad, I would have also been an audience like you,'' he added. He also spoke about the fat pay cheques being received by the ministers. "The average assets of MP's today is Rs 15 crore, and I am one of them. When I became an MP, I was ashamed because half of the MPs were standing in Parliament asking for their salary hike. Out of them, only 2-4% are actually deserving. All other are industrialists who have their own SUVs. I gave a written note to Ms Meira stating that I don't care whether you increase the salary of MPs, but I will not accept the increased salary. Since 2009, whatever salary I have received, I have silently given it to the families of farmers in UP who committed suicide," Gandhi said.