Advice for Varun in Mahabharat 2014: Spat with Priyanka dharma yudh, enemy must be vanquished

Senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has taken a plunge into the ongoing verbal duel between warring cousins Varun and Priyanka Gandhi, comparing it with the epic battle Mahabharat which was fought between cousins and advising the young BJP leader not to be swayed by emotions.

Donning the role of Lord Krishna and using the exact words, Sinha on Wednesday advised the young BJP leader, who is seeking a second term in Parliament this time from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency, that he should not worry about taking on relatives in this 'dharma yudh'.

"He is engaged in a dharma yudh and he should not care who is in front of him," Sinha was quoted by The Economic Times as saying.

"In this verbal duel that is taking place, he (Varun) should recall Mahabharata, Sinha said, adding, "The enemy must be vanquished."

The cousins have been engaged in a heated exchange of attacks during electioneering for over a week now.

Priyanka had attacked Varun in her speech in Amethi last week and suggested that he should be defeated and shown the right path.

"He is definitely from my family, he is my brother. But he has gone astray. When a young one in the family chooses the wrong path, then the elders show them the right path, the right way. I urge all of you to show my brother the right path," she had said.

Varun had hit back at Priyanka, alleging that she had crossed the "Lakshman Rekha of decency" with her remarks that he has gone "astray" and said that his "decency and large-heartedness" should not be construed as a weakness by anyone.

"It is my request to all that instead of personal attacks, we debate unemployment, corruption, poverty illiteracy. Let us try to raise the level of discourse rather than lowering it," Varun had said after filing his nomination as a BJP candidate from Sultanpur.

Priyanka, 42, called it an "ideological war" with her estranged 34-year-old cousin as she also accused him of betraying her family.

"This is not a family tea party, this is an ideological war... It is a betrayal with my family," Priyanka said while talking to media on her arrival in Fursatganj, which falls in the constituency of her mother Sonia Gandhi, Rae Bareli.