Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJP’s long-standing charge against his party’s “dynastic politics”, and pointed out that there are dynasties within the ruling party too. Speaking at a press conference in Aizawl on Monday, Gandhi asked what Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh’s sons did.
“What does Amit Shah’s son do exactly? What does Rajnath Singh’s son do? Last I heard, Amit Shah’s son is running Indian cricket. Be objective. Look at the leaders in the BJP and ask yourself the question what their children are doing. Many of the children are dynasts,” the Congress leader shot back.
The home minister’s son Jay Shah is the secretary of the BCCI and president of the Asian Cricket Council, while Singh’s son is an Uttar Pradesh MLA.
One of the major poll planks of the BJP is its oft-repeated charge of “dynasty politics”, pointing to the Gandhi family.
The Gandhi family descended from the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. His daughter Indira Gandhi followed his line and became the PM later, and following her assassination, her son and Rahul Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi became the PM. Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi has remained the Congress president for about two decades.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the attack against the Congress calling it a “family-run party” in most of his election speeches and has often accused the grand-old party of turning “prajatantra” (democracy) into “parivartantra” (dynasty).
Not just election speeches, even during his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, PM Modi had said that political parties who believe in dynastic politics have one mantra – “party of the family, by the family and for the family”.
“Nepotism and appeasement have brought big misfortune to the country. Now how can this happen in democracy that a political party, and I am giving special emphasis on ‘political party’, has brought such a distortion in the democracy of my country. It can never strengthen India’s democracy. What is that disease: Familial politics. And what is their mantra? Party of the family, by the family and for the family. Their life mantra is that their political party belongs to the family, through the family and for the family. Nepotism and partisanship are the enemies of our talent pool,” PM Modi had said during his 77th Independence Day address.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has termed “dynastic politics” as “poison”, adding that under the system, the control over a party and the government led by it remains in the hands of one family alone.
Meanwhile, following Rahul Gandhi’s remark, the BJP found an opportunity to hit out at the party following remarks by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who called his party a “family-run” one.
When asked who would be the prime ministerial candidate from the Congress if the Opposition alliance, INDIA, wins the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Tharoor said, “My guess is from the Congress party either Mr Kharge who will then be the first Dalit Prime Minister of India or Rahul Gandhi since in many ways it is a family-run party.”
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya, in a post on X, “What did Shashi Tharoor mean when he said Congress is a family run party? Let us figure this out…After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, her son, Rajiv Gandhi, who had no experience of being in politics, was pulled out from a cockpit and made the Prime Minister, ahead of several other senior leaders. After him, his widow, Sonia Gandhi, an Italian, was made the Congress President. She remained at the helm, unchallenged, for almost two decades. It was when she decided to step down, her delinquent son, Rahul Gandhi, took charge as President. When he failed, Sonia Gandhi stepped in again, till such time an ineffectual regent was planted as the President.”
“Rahul Gandhi still has the temerity to call the BJP dynastic. This sense of entitlement is what Indians have smashed twice. 2024 will be the third time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described Gandhi as an ‘unpadh baccha’ (illiterate child) who has no knowledge about politics.
“How does Amit Shah’s son come into the picture? He is not in BJP but Rahul’s entire family is in politics… Rahul thinks the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is a wing of the BJP. Don’t ask me much about him, he is an ‘unpadh baccha’ (illiterate child),” Sarma told reporters.
“Can Rajnath Singh’s son, who is just an MLA in UP, be compared to (Congress general secretary) Priyanka Gandhi? Does he control the BJP?” Sarma added.
He said Rahul Gandhi should give opportunity to new people and then talk about dynasty politics. “Rahul has no knowledge about politics, and does not realise that he is at the core of dynasty politics… A family — mother, father, grandfather, sister, brother — everybody is in politics and is controlling the party. But, how can he see a parallel to that in the BJP?’ the chief minister said.