Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there was a strong buzz that BJP leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Varun Gandhi might join the Congress.

The BJP gave him a ticket from Pilibhit and he exchanged his constituency with his mother Maneka Gandhi who fought from Sultanpur. 

Replying to a question during an interview with Times of India while campaigning in Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi said, "

I joined BJP 15 years ago. The day I joined the BJP I said that the day I leave the party will be the day that I pack my bags and leave politics. What was true then is true now."

Even Rahul Gandhi was asked if his cousin is joining the Congress. Rahul Gandhi said he was not aware of the development. 

After winning the Lok Sabha elections for the second time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not include Maneka Gandhi in his Cabinet. 

Varun Gandhi was hoping that he will be inducted into the Union Cabinet this time in place of his mother. But that too didn't happen. 

Since then, he has been completely sidelined.

Earlier this month, Varun Gandhi did vent out his frustration when he spoke on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue, seeking justice for famers mowed down allegedly by Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra.

He further demanded that accountability should be fixed in the murder of farmers and also wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking a CBI probe and Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of killed dead farmers. 

Later, he attacked Ajay Mishra over his comment that Khalistanis had engineered the Lakhimpur events, calling it an attempt to communalise the situation.

Soon after, both Varun Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi were dropped from the 80-member BJP National Executive. 

On Thursday, Varun Gandhi again riled the BJP leadership by posting a 1980 video of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in which he warns the Indira Gandhi government against intimidating farmers.

"Wise words from a big-hearted leader," he tweeted while sharing the video.

So, is he preparing the ground for leaving BJP or is it just a threat? Only time will tell.