Pilibhit, Mar 28 (IANS): Sitting BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Wednesday said that he will not contest Lok Sabha polls from Pilibhit seat after he was denied a ticket by the BJP.

Varun Gandhi told reporters that he will not contest the elections from Pilibhit.

"I was not expecting what happened to me despite all my sincere contributions made for the betterment and welfare of my constituency and its people without any discrimination," he said.

"Jitin Prasada has filed his nomination on Wednesday, marking the closure of the nomination process," a BJP spokesperson said.

Pilibhit has been a stronghold of BJP MP Maneka and then Varun Gandhi since 1989 when she scored her maiden Lok Sabha victory from this constituency under the Janata Dal banner.

She lost the 1991 polls but won Pilibhit back in 1996 and continued to win the seat in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

In 2009, she handed over the baton to Varun Gandhi who won on a BJP symbol.

Maneka Gandhi shifted to the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in 2009, returned to Pilibhit in 2014 and went back to Sultanpur in 2019.

This will be the first elections since 1989 when Maneka Gandhi and her son will not be in the fray from Pilibhit.