Everything is fair in ideological war

Amethi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday delivered a scathing appraisal of her estranged and younger cousin Varun, who filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. "Anybody... no matter how close they are, as blood relations... if they are going to be on that side of the ideological spectrum... then these are my beliefs. I feel it is a betrayal of my family," she said to NDTV, referring to allegations that he delivered hate speeches during the last national election in 2009. Varun Gandhi has been acquitted of charges of spreading communal hatred by a local court in Uttar Pradesh. Referring to the alleged hate comments as Varun Gandhi's "views about certain things in the last election", Priyanka told NDTV she could not overlook them "even if it were for my own child."

She stressed she has no regrets over this weekend's leak of a video in which she was seen criticizing Varun for having gone astray. "This is not a family tea-party... it's an ideological war," she said on Tuesday. Priyanka is managing campaigns of her mother Sonia, Congress president, and brother Rahul, Congress vice-president, in their constituencies of Raebareli and Amethi respectively. Varun Gandhi has relocated his constituency from Pilibhit to Sultanpur, which brings him next door to his estranged family. A statement posted on Twitter offered his counter to Priyanka's comments. "In the last few days, a few statements have been made. ...my inherent decency and large-heartedness should not be construed as weakness by anyone."