Days after comments on Lakhimpur Kheri, Varun Gandhi, Maneka excluded from BJP's national executive council

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Bharatiya Janata Party has announced the list of 80-member national executive council Thursday. While many Union Ministers and veteran leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are on the list, party MPs and mother-son duo Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi have been excluded from the executive council.

The removal comes even as Varun Gandhi has been quite vocal regarding the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and has been demanding an investigation into the incident. Sources in the party said that Pilibhit MP's stance on the incident was not taken well by the top BJP leadership. "He projected as if the entire fault lies at the doorsteps of the leaders. We are awaiting the investigation report and believe that incident was unfortunate. He should have been patient at a time when the entire opposition is targeting the party," said a senior BJP leader.

Not just Varun, even his mother and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi too has been excluded from the body. The national executive council is one of the most powerful panel's in the party which takes crucial decisions on shaping the future course of action for the BJP and the government.

However, a senior leader from Uttar Pradesh said that it is the prerogative of the party President JP Nadda to decide who to admit to the national executive council and claimed that they had been replaced by equally able leaders from the state. "There are other senior leaders from UP who have become part of the council in their place. There are atleast ten. They must have lost their utility or relevance. We have seen the statements of the son on various occasions. It is after all the party's decision," added the leader.

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.

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