Varun Gandhi helps kin of drought suicide victims in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: Even as drought ravages large parts of the country, BJP’s Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi has started his own campaign to connect with farmers in distress in Uttar Pradesh, reaching out beyond his constituency of Sultanpur and monetarily helping families of those who committed suicide.

Gandhi had previously announced that he would donate his entire salary as MP to farmers in distress and he has been travelling through several districts of UP to hand out monetary aid. On Saturday he visited Allahabad on a two-day trip. He also convened a meeting of intellectuals to connect with the people of the home town of his forefathers (grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawahar Lal Nehru) and also to persuade them to donate for the drought-hit farmers.

On Sunday he addressed a handful of public meetings in rural Allahabad. “Farmers have borne the brunt of drought and I can see their plight. It is the farmers who feed the nation but they have been crippled by drought. I just want to reach out to them in this crisis and provide a helping hand. We are trying to help those who have nothing to eat through some monetary aid,” he told a gathering near Koraon. At another meeting, he said, “Allahabad has given so many PMs, yet this district is underdeveloped.

The blood of this place runs in my veins and I will do whatever I can to help those farmers who have committed suicide due to crop failure.” He distributed cheques of `1 lakh each to families of 10 farmers who had committed suicide on being hit by drought.