Bharatiya Janata Party's new saffron soldier Varun Gandhi has withdrawn his anticipatory bail plea from the Delhi High Court.
The Uttar Pradesh Police now has no legal bar in arresting Varun.
Sources had earlier told NDTV that Varun was likely to withdraw his anticipatory bail, which also expired on Friday.
As per earlier reports, Varun might court arrest at his constituency Pilibhit on Friday.
Varun Gandhi apparently took the decision to withdraw the bail application after the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday rejected his petition, seeking quashing of the two FIRs registered against him for the speeches in Pilibhit on March 7 and 8.
Though legally he could have challenged the Allahabad and Delhi High Court order but Varun has decided to take the political route on this issue which has raised a debate across the country on 'hate speech'.
It's a political decision which may benefit the new icon of Hindutva during the polls. With this step Varun is looking to derive more political mileage.
The BJP said Varun has not told them of his plans to go to Pilibhit but they say their advice to Varun would be to act within the law.
What shaped the Varun factor?
Here is a quick look at what shaped the Varun factor, which has swept the political mindscape ever since his hate speech in Pilibhit came to light.
The Election Commission began by acting tough but eventually could not do anything more than reprimanding Varun and suggesting to the BJP to drop him as a candidate, which was outrightly rejected by the party.
The BJP walked a fine line saying the contents of Varun's speech is not what the party believes in but at the same time backed his doctored tape theory.
With Varun clearly emerging as a saffron hero among the party rank and file, the BJP has put its weight behind Varun.
Varun now seems set to take his fight to another level by using the case against him to his