Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretary Varun Gandhi on Saturday addressed a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district through a mobile phone after the state government did not allow him to attend the rally, a party leader said.

"The permission for the rally was taken well in advance. Hours before the public meeting was to start, the district authorities informed us that Varunji will not be allowed to participate in the meeting due to security reasons," BJP legislator Yashpal Chauhan told reporters in Hathras, some 350 km from Lucknow.

"When we conveyed the information to Varunji, he decided to address the rally on the mobile phone from Delhi. He called up on a mobile, which was kept in front of the mike," he added.

According to BJP officials, the permission for the rally at the KPA Inter-College in Sikandararao town in Hathras was taken May 15.

"We know very well that the move to not allow Varunji to participate in the rally was taken at the behest of the state government. Actually, Chief Minister Mayawati fears that our young leader would unmask her real face before the masses...It was a politically motivated move on the directions of the chief minister," Chauhan told IANS.

BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s rallies in Uttar Pradesh have started making senior party leaders increasingly restive.
The young MP’s growing popularity and his speeches that are designed to cater to the Hindu voters are fast turning Varun Gandhi into a much-in-demand leader which, in turn, has set alarm bells ringing in several party camps.

His growing popularity can be gauged from the fact that during his Lucknow visit last week, more than 30 district presidents and a dozen party MLAs fell over each other to meet him. Each one had the same request — a rally in his or her constituency.
Later, at a function at the BJP headquarters to welcome the newly-appointed state BJP president, Surya Pratap Shahi, Varun Gandhi stole the show when he announced that statues of Mayawati would be replaced with those of Lord Ram when the BJP comes to power.

The statement won a thunderous applause and leaders who later tried to distance themselves from the statement, came in for sharp criticism from the rank and file.
“Our leaders have conveniently forgotten Lord Ram and now when Varun Gandhi is trying to talk about it, these leaders are putting a spoke in the wheel. Ab aisa nahin chalega—jo Ram ki baat karega , wohi dil par raj karega,” said a party worker present at the meeting.

The BJP MP, in the past few months, has addressed massive rallies in Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Sultanpur and Jaunpur. There are 20 more such rallies being planned in various other districts of UP in the coming months and almost all of them are being organised, not by the party’s state unit, but by individual leaders.
“At the moment, Varun Gandhi is the biggest crowd puller in the party,” said one of the BJP MLAs.

Amid the showering of marigold petals from rooftops and cheers of “Jai Shri Ram” by supporters, Varun Gandhi, the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has pushed the acceleration pedal in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to revive the party in the state.

Walking through the meandering lanes of UP’s villages, Varun, dressed in a spotless white churidar-kurta, is trying to create a roadmap to play a bigger role in state politics. This was his fourth rally in UP and he is planning 15 more. The next rally is scheduled in Aligarh on June 2.

Squarely blaming the Mayawati government for being insensitive towards the needs of people and rampant corruption, Varun promised to bring “Ram Rajya” in the state if his party won the elections.

“How long will the people of UP tolerate the Mayawati government? She is facing corruption charges herself. Do you think she will try to protect you? It is time that people of this state start getting ‘uttar’ (answer) for their questions and the state truly becomes ‘Uttam Pradesh’,” said Varun, while addressing a huge gathering of supporters in Sujanganj, a village near Allahabad.
His listeners had travelled several miles in extreme heat to get a glimpse of their leader.

Hoping to further consolidate his popularity among the younger generation in the state, Varun promised the villagers that if the BJP is able to form the government, each youngster would get an interest-free loan of Rs10 lakh to start his or her own business.

“Everyone talks about the youth these days, but no one really does anything for them. If the BJP is able to form the government, we will start a new scheme and would give interest-free loans of Rs10 lakh to youngsters,” said Varun as the crowd stood up and shouted his name in appreciation.

Click here to see pictures from the Rally

Varun Gandhi is now talking poverty and development, not just Hindutva. The change — palpable in recent speeches — was visible on Sunday, when he addressed a packed rally at Jaunpur, with BJP leaders Kesrinath Tripathi, Hriday Narain Dixit and Mahendra Singh on the dais.

Varun is moving across UP to prove that he can draw crowds in the off-season like none in the state BJP can.

He talks about the youth and attacks Mayawati for building statues when the poor suffer.

“If the BJP comes to power in UP, all unemployed youth will get a Rs 10 lakh interest free loan,” he said at Jaunpur.

The Hindutva discourse also sprang up: “Ensure that temples that are in a dilapidated state in your locality are repaired and renovated.”

“Wherever you come across cases of cow slaughter, step in,” he said. “Take the local BJP leaders with you.”

Before leaving for Jaunpur, Varun told Hindustan Times  that he talked about poverty and not Hindutva in his speeches. Asked about the cow slaughter theme, he said: “That is not a Hindutva issue for me; the Constitution makers also disapproved of it….Governance should go beyond religion and caste issues. My message is pro-poor. There is no hard Hindutva.”

After the Lok Sabha polls, many in the BJP had claimed that his speeches had harmed the party. But many disagree too.

“Those blaming him for the loss should remember that he posted a huge margin when the party did badly in UP,” said a BJP leader.

Click here to see pictures from the Rally