The article by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on dynasty politics in India has stirred a row with rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders backing his view and attacking his party at the same point. A BJP leader has now called the Thiruvanathpuram MP “khatron ke Khiladi”, while mentioning that the piece written by the former diplomat was “very insightful”.
Shehzad Poonawalla, BJP spokesperson and former Congress leader, said that with his piece on “how Indian Politics have become a family business” – Shashi Tharoor has launched a direct attack on “India’s Nepo kid Rahul & Chota nepo kid Tejaswi Yadav!”.
Delhi: BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla says, "Today, I read Shashi Tharoor’s insightful piece, in which he explains in great detail how Indian politics has increasingly become like a family business. He begins his article by referring to Congress’s first family,… pic.twitter.com/EMVv8xsuSc
— IANS (@ians_india) November 3, 2025
Quoting Shashi Tharoor’s article, Poonawalla said, “This is why Naamdars of Congress hate Kaamdar Chaiwala PM Modi. Wonder what repercussions will follow against Dr Tharoor for speaking so candidly.”
He also noted that “Dr Tharoor was already attacked for calling out Nepo kid Rahul Gandhi on Op Sindoor “surrender narrative “”.
‘You know what happened to me’
Poonawalla, in a veiled jibe at the Gandhi family, said that he is praying for Shashi Tharoor as the “first family is very vengeful”.
“Dr Tharoor has become Khatron ke Khiladi. He has directly called out Nepo Kids or Nawabs of Nepotism,” Poonwalla said, adding that when he called Rahul Gandhi a nepo kid back in 2017, the Maharashtra Congress had disowned him.
Dr Tharoor has become Khatron ke Khiladi
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) November 3, 2025
He has directly called out Nepo Kids or Nawabs of Nepotism
Sir when i called out Nepo Naamdar Rahul Gandhi in 2017 – you know what happened to me
Sir praying for you…
First family is very vengeful https://t.co/yvaMEY8vtI
“Sir when I called out Nepo Naamdar Rahul Gandhi in 2017 – you know what happened to me, Sir praying for you… ” he added.
What did Tharoor say in article
In his opinion piece, Tharoor wrote how Indian politics is dominated by nepotism and those coming from a particularl family.
“For decades, one family has towered over Indian politics. The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty – including independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and current opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – is bound up with the history of India’s struggle for freedom. But it has also cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright. This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every party, in every region, and at every level,” he wrote, and Poonawalla shared this on his X post as well.
He further stated, “Dynastic politics pose a grave threat to Indian democracy. When political power is determined by lineage, rather than ability, commitment, or grassroots engagement, the quality of governance suffers. Drawing from a smaller talent pool is never advantageous, but it is especially problematic when candidates’ main qualification is their surname.”
Reacting to Tharoor’s article, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the Congress MP has remembered dynastic politics after a long time.
“Perhaps his words will reach Kharge, so that he too may free himself from servitude and stand against dynastic rule,” he said.
