By IANS,
Lucknow : Former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Maneka Gandhi has been asked not to meet her son and the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi, who is in Etah jail in Uttar Pradesh.
“I want to make it clear we have not issued any prohibitory orders. We have just requested Maneka Gandhi that she should not meet her son Varun as per the jail administration rules,” district magistrate Gaurav Dayal told IANS on phone from Etah, which is 220 km from the national capital.
Varun Gandhi is in jail as he faces charges under the National Security Act following campaign speeches vilifying Muslims that have purportedly been delivered by him.
According to rules, only two meetings with jail inmates are allowed in a week. And in the case of Varun, these two meetings have already been conducted, said Dayal.
Of the two meetings with Varun, the first was organised Wednesday with her mother Maneka Gandhi, while the second took place Thursday with three leaders of BJP, officials said.
“We have just requested Maneka Gandhi that she should not visit this week in the (Etah) jail to meet her son and abide by the general rules of the jail administration,” Dayal added.
“I am nobody to prevent a mother (Maneka Gandhi) from meeting her son.”
According to BJP officials, Maneka was scheduled to arrive in Etah Friday afternoon to meet her son in jail.