The BJP will field VHP leader Ram Vilas Vedanti to take on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi but Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is known to have shot down a proposal to nominate VHP’s Acharya Dharmendra, among his sharp critics, against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.Instead, the BJP has settled for local leader Girish Narayan Pandey against Sonia. Dharmendra, from Rajasthan, is a member of the VHP Margdarshak Mandal and has been counted among Vajpayee’s staunchest critics. The BJP would have been hard-pressed to explain his candidature against the backdrop of his outbursts against the PM in the past.
