New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Congress general secretary Umesh Pandit on Wednesday demanded that Varun Gandhi be roped in by the party before the 2017 Assembly polls. He is perhaps the first Congressman to make such a plea publicly, though state Congress leaders are discussing this privately.

“Varun Gandhi has the potential to revive the Congress in UP. After all, he is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the son of Sanjay Gandhi,” Mr Pandit said.

He said those who quit the Congress after attacking the Nehru-Gandhi family had returned and got positions, but Varun had not said a single word against the family.

Asked if he would raise this at the meeting called by AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad in Lucknow on Thursday, Mr Pandit said: “Certainly... After all, this is the view emerging in the party.”

Varun Gandhi, BJP MP from Sultanpur, is getting isolated in his own party, and not getting adequate support from its top leadership. Congress insiders claim that Varun has a good equation with his cousin Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.