BJP General Secretary Varun Gandhi on April 15 filed his nomination papers from Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat, which is close to the Nehru-Gandhi bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi, after holding a massive roadshow. (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Party workers showered 34-year-old Varun with flower petals and greeted him with beating of drums as he led a huge procession of supporters towards the district collectorate to file his nomination. (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
However, the road show was cut short after he covered a distance of 1.5 km as the local administration at Sahganj chowk said permission was taken only for filing nomination and not for the roadshow. (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
The procession, which was supposed to cover five km before reaching the collectorate, could not reach the main city areas. (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Varun, who represented Pilibhit Parliamentary constituency in 2009 has shifted to Sultanpur this time where he is locked in a quadrangular contest with Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh's wife Amita Singh (Congress), Shakeel Ahmed (SP) and Pawan Pandey (BSP). (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Significantly, BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's name was missing from the hoardings which Varun's supporters carried in the procession. The hoardings had a big picture of Varun in the centre. (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
The supporters were raising slogans like 'Varun nahin yeh Aandhi hai, Sultanpur ka Gandhi hai'( Varun is a storm, he is Sultanpur's Gandhi). (IE Photo: Vishal Srivastav)