Varun Gandhi charged with attempt to murder

New Delhi: BJP leader Varun Gandhi, who is accused of making communal speeches in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, and endangering communal harmony was on Sunday charged with attempt to murder.

The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a fresh FIR against Varun and 13 others for the clashes in Pilibhit on Saturday during the BJP’s leader march to a court. Varun, who surrendered before the court, has already been booked for unlawful assembly

The fresh charges under him include rioting, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty and disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant. A senior police officer denied that Varun would be booked under the stringent National Security Act.

A FIR has also been filed against BJP leader Kalraj Mishra, who is in charge of the party’ election cell in UP, and BJP MLA V K Gupta for “disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant”.

A Pilibhit court sent Varun to jail until Monday for allegedly making hate speeches amid clashes between party workers and the police on Saturday.

Gandhi courted controversy after his speeches, which had derogatory references to Muslims, gained media attention. Gandhi maintains that the speeches, whose recorded copies were aired repeatedly on television, were doctored.

The Election Commission came down heavily on him and suggested that he should not be fielded as a candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP refused to do that and questioned the Election Commission's jurisdiction to suggest that.

On Friday, Gandhi withdrew his bail application from the Delhi High Court and decided to surrender.

The Pilibhit administration has rejected the allegations of Maneka Gandhi, Varun’s mother, that a Muslim police officer beat was responsible for the clashes in Pilibhit on Saturday and beat up BJP workers.

“"I strictly don't agree with the comments of Maneka gandhi. The person she is naming was not at all deployed at that place. We checked the records and we were careful about his deployment. He was at another place and the allegation is totally false,” said Ajay Chauhan, the district magistrate of Pilibhit.