NEW DELHI, March 23 (UPI) -- India's Bharatiya Janata Party says it has rejected advice from the country's election commission to not nominate the grandson of Indira Gandhi for Parliament.
Officials of the Hindu nationalist political party said Monday that Varun Gandhi, grandson of the late prime minister, is still its candidate in the Pilibhit constituency of northern Uttar Pradesh state despite accusations of making derogatory anti-Muslim statements, the Press Trust of India reported.
"He (Varun) is our candidate," BJP spokesman Balbir Punj told reporters after meeting Gandhi. "We have turned down the advice (by the election commission) because it is does not have the right to give such an advice."
Gandhi is facing allegations that he made anti-Muslim statements while campaigning for upcoming elections, but he has denied the claims, saying an apparent recording of his speech has been "doctored," the BBC reported.
"Varun Gandhi does not deserve to be a candidate at the present general elections," the three-member Election Commission said in its advice to the BJP.
