Varun Gandhi: The Gandhi who will make a difference?

This profile is adapted from Varun Gandhi's official website, published when he was the BJP's MP from Pilibhit.

Born on March 13, 1980, Feroze Varun Gandhi is the only son of the late Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi. Varun was barely three months old when his father died in a plane crash, and four years old when his grandmother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated.

He attended Rishi Valley School and completed his A levels at the British School, New Delhi, where he was elected secretary of the student council. He studied law and economics at the London School of Economics and completed a master's in public policy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

A prolific reader, he published a volume of poetry at the age of 20, The Otherness of Self, illustrated by artists Anjolie Ela Menon, Manjit Bawa and Manu Parekh. He has also written on national security and foreign affairs.

In August 1999, at 19, Varun campaigned alongside his mother in her Pilibhit constituency. He began his political career with the words: "Main neta to nahin hoon, jo bhashan doon, main sirf aapse baat karne aaya hoon" ("I am no politician that I make speeches, I've only come to speak to you").

Choosing the BJP was a considered decision, given that his Nehru-Gandhi family has traditionally led the Indian National Congress. In an October 2005 BBC HARDtalk interview with Stephen Sackur, Varun said it was the BJP's nationalist values that had drawn him.

Varun was not yet 25 during the 2004 general elections and could not contest, but he campaigned extensively for the party. He was appointed to the BJP's national executive. In January 2008, the BJP named him its candidate from Pilibhit for the 2009 general election — his ticket announced in the party's very first list.

In May 2009, Varun Gandhi was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Pilibhit by a margin of about 2.81 lakh votes, one of the largest victory margins for a first-time MP.

By 2010, sections of the BJP were projecting him as a future face of the party in Uttar Pradesh, and a public rally he addressed in Sultanpur in December 2009 drew an unusually large crowd.

Source: varungandhi.net.in (original campaign-site link dead; facts cross-checked against Wikipedia)