'Varun Gandhi most welcome to join us': Congress's offer after BJP drops him from Pilibhit

After the BJP decided not to field Varun Gandhi, the current Member of Parliament from Pilibhit, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party extended an open invitation to him. Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated on Tuesday that Varun Gandhi is "most welcome" to join their ranks.

Adhir Chowdhury, speaking to reporters, claimed that the BJP removed Varun Gandhi from the election race due to his family ties to the Gandhi family.

"He (Varun Gandhi) should join Congress. We will be happy if he joins. He is a tall leader, and a well-educated politician. His image exudes transparency, and he has relations with the Gandhi family. This is the reason why the BJP did not give him a ticket. We want Varun Gandhi to join Congress now," Adhir Chowdhury said.

On Sunday, the BJP revealed 111 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Among them, Varun Gandhi was dropped from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat, while his mother, Maneka Gandhi, was retained. This announcement was part of the party's fifth list of candidates for the elections.

The BJP decided to replace Varun Gandhi with former Congress leader Jitin Prasada for the Pilibhit seat in Uttar Pradesh. They also announced candidates for several Lok Sabha seats across different states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.

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