Varun Gandhi clarifies on 'praise' of Rahul Gandhi; says comments not an endorsement of Congress VP

NEW DELHI: Seeking to quell the controversy arising from his remarks about Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Wednesday said, "My comments should not be seen as an endorsement of any political party or candidate."

"My comment, last night, in a meeting with teachers and NGOs, in response to being asked whether I knew about initiatives in Amethi, was that although I had not seen the work done via self help groups in Amethi, I had heard it was fairly decent, and that I would stress on empowering people towards being self-reliant," Varun Gandhi tweeted

It was earlier reported that Varun Gandhi praised his cousin, Rahul Gandhi. Varun appreciated his cousin Rahul for 'implementation of various programmes to help small scale industry in Amethi'.

Varun Gandhi also went on to say that that the model of development needs to be replicated in Sultanpur.

Reacting to the praise, Rahul Gandhi said, "Whatever Varun has said is correct. I am happy people appreciate the work that we have done." "The work in Amethi has been done in a strategic manner to connect farmers to rest of the world, for women empowerment," Rahul added.

In March, Varun Gandhi had ruled out campaigning against Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi constituency. "I have a positive mindset towards politics and have always believed in certain lines of decency that I would never cross," he had said, adding he will not campaign against Rahul Gandhi in the neighbouring Amethi constituency, where the latter was seeking a re-election.

Varun Gandhi, a sitting MP from Pilibhit, has shifted base to Sultanpur.

(With inputs from IANS)