Varun Gandhi tweets Vajpayee's old video; Reminds govt. to respect farmers

New Delhi: Member of Parliament and BJP leader Varun Gandhi continued his targeting of the government on the farmer protests nd Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

In the latest tweet, Varun Gandhi shared an old video of a speech by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee warning the then Congress government against repressing farmers. He wrote in the caption, “Wise words from a big-hearted leader.”

In the video, which is of the year 1980, tweeted by Varun Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is seen saying, “Want to warn the government, leave the path of suppression. Don’t try to threaten farmers, they are not scared. We do not want to use the farmers’ movement for party politics but we support the farmers’ rightful demand and if the government suppresses, misuses the law, tries to repress the peaceful movement, then we will not hesitate to jump into their struggle. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with them.”

Varun Gandhi has been vehemently opposing the official party line on farmers’ issues.  Earlier he had demanded stringent action against those responsible for killing farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

In what is viewed as a sign of unhappiness of BJP party leadership, Varun Gandhi and his mother Maneka Gandhi were recently dropped from the party’s national executive.

(With inputs from IANS)