Mothers patch up

As Varun Gandhi hogged the limelight for delivering a hate speech in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, his mother, Maneka Gandhi, was raising issues about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The reclusive Maneka, who is Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from neighbouring Aonla constituency, chose a Punjabi television channel to air her views. This was apparently aimed at wooing the Sikh voters, who form a good chunk of the electorate in both the constituencies. Maneka, who was elected from Pilibhit thrice till she handed over the seat to her son, feared that his hate speech might alienate the Sikhs too.