News Analysis India

Tag: dynasty politics

  • TMC: Modi hits out at TMC over corruption and dynasty politics

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday upped the ante against the TMC on the issue of corruption and dynasty politics and said the opposition alliance INDIA parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are bothered only about the development of their families. Giving a clarion call to defeat the Mamata Banerjee-led party in West Bengal, the prime minister while addressing a mega rally in Siliguri said, “The road to oust the corrupt TMC government from West Bengal will open from the Lok Sabha polls.”

    “I have seen mothers of our country struggling for basic amenities. That is why I stress on sanitisation, free electricity, bank accounts and tap water to make the lives of our mothers and sisters easier. But here, first the Left Front and then the TMC government have ignored the basic needs of the people of the state,” he said.

    Modi said the TMC has been looting the people of the state and had indulged in creating fake job cards for looting central funds sent by the Centre under MGNREGA. Hitting out at dynasty politics of opposition parties, Modi said the “TMC is only bothered about its nephew whereas the Congress is bothered only about the royal family,” in an apparent reference to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and the Gandhi family in Congress.

  • Last time member of my family was PM was over 30 years ago: Rahul Gandhi on dynasty criticism

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Responding to criticism over dynastic politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said it has been over 30 years that a member of his family was prime minister, and asserted he would not stop fighting for his ideological view just because he is the son of an ex-PM.

    In a candid free-wheeling discussion with University of Chicago professor Dipesh Chakrabarty, Gandhi said trolls are “almost a guide” telling him what to stand for.

    Gandhi said he was proud that his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi got killed while standing and defending something.

    “It helps me understand them and my place and what I should be doing. There are no regrets,” he said during the live chat session.

    The Congress leader also said a battle of ideas is going on and as the other idea attacks him, it helps him refine himself.

    “For me, trolls sharpen my senses about what I have to do. They are almost a guide to me. They tell me exactly where I have to go and what I have to stand for. So it’s a refinement, it’s an evolution,” he said.

    Chakrabarty asked Gandhi that when the decline of the Congress is discussed, the question of dynasty is raised and how does he relate to this as someone who is seen as belonging to a dynasty.

    Gandhi replied, “It is interesting to me because the last time a member of my family was a prime minister was 30 plus years ago”.

    Rahul Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister from 1984-89.

    He was the last member from the Gandhi family who held the post.

    Rajiv’s Gandhi’s mother Indira Gandhi and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru have also been prime ministers.

    “No member of my family was in the UPA government. I do have an ideological view. I fight for certain ideas. Now, if you are going to say to me that just because your father was Rajiv Gandhi, you are not allowed to fight for those ideas, I am going to say sorry, I don’t care who my father was. I don’t care who my grand father was, my great grandfather was. These are the ideas that I consider valuable, and I am going to fight for them,” Gandhi said.

    The MP from Wayanad also talked about the the UPA government losing popularity, saying that for big systems like India, one has to provide a vision for a certain period of time.

    “We gave a vision for the first part of the century…we gave a vision in green revolution, we gave the nation a vision of liberalisation. In 2004, we gave a vision for the country, it was a version of the 1990s vision and was designed to pull large numbers of people out of poverty,” Gandhi said.

    He said the vision ran out its course in 2012 and a new vision was needed.

    Noting that 10 years is a long time for a government in India, Gandhi said some mistakes were made and the country was also hit by the worst economic disaster in 2008.

    “The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) came with a new vision. You can see the result of that vision it is a disaster. Our job now is to construct the vision going forward from here,” he said.

    During the discussion, Gandhi also slammed the Centre over the three farm laws and said the government needs to back down on this.

    He said if not resolved, the agitation would spread and would not be good for the country.

    Agricultural reform is required, but the destruction of the agriculture system is not acceptable, he said.

    He said the bills need to be withdrawn and for agriculture reform, fresh discussion be initiated in Parliament.

    Gandhi also interacted with students during the live chat.

  • Unlike other political parties, BJP has ‘neta’ and ‘niyat’ to take it forward: JP Nadda

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: BJP president JP Nadda here on Friday said his party has a leader and the intention to take it forward unlike other political outfits, which he accused of being dynastic.

    He said “parivarvaad” (dynastic politics) can be found in all political parties except the BJP, in which an ordinary person can become a prime minister, defence minister or home minister. The BJP chief was speaking at the party’s “Booth President Conference” here.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also attended the event. “We have ‘neta’ (leader), ‘niyat’ (intention), ‘niti’ (policy), ‘karyakarta’ (workers) and ‘karyakram’ (programme). We have no reason to stop,” Nadda told party workers.

    He said ”parivarvaad” exists in all political parties, with the baton being passed on to the son by the father. “But it is in the BJP that an ordinary person can become a prime minister, defence minister or home minister,” he said.

    Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nadda said, “Even the US was fighting against it, but what happened? It could not decide between the options of ‘arth’ (economy) and ‘swasthya’ (health). As a result, it was a political issue, an electoral issue and there was an electoral loss. They had a better health system than us.”

    “Spain and Italy had better health system than us, but all of this collapsed because the leadership did not take the decision at the appropriate time. Here, Modiji took the decision at the right time, imposed a lockdown with timely intervention and bold decision, and saved the country,” he added.

    He added that at the time of the imposition of the lockdown, the testing capacity was 150 samples per day and today it is 10 lakh per day and in UP, it is over 1.5 lakh per day. “At the onset of the lockdown, PPE kits were imported and today over 5 lakh PPE kits per day are being made,” he said.

    “India has the best recovery rate and lowest mortality rate. Today, our recovery rate is above 97 per cent and it is increasing every day. UP’s population is 24 crore and the population of the US is (nearly) 33 crore. There, the number of people who have died is four lakh. Every life is important. Here, it is 8,000. We have to understand this difference,” the BJP chief said.

    Nadda said the image of India has changed due to the ‘swachhta abhiyan’ and the toilets constructed in various households are not merely toilets, they are “izzat ghar for women”. “The Ujjawla Yojana was not merely a scheme, it empowered the women,” he said, adding that UP bothered about every migrant labourer, which passed through the state during the nationwide lockdown.

    He urged the party workers to link every farmer with the FPO (farmer producer organisation) and told them to implement social harmony in letter and spirit.

    Speaking at the event, Adityanath said the BJP has set new standards for political parties. Dynastic politics, casteism, regionalism and linguistic divisions weaken democracy and challenge the unity and integrity of the country, Adityanath said.

    Today, the world is looking towards India with hope, the chief minister said. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma were also present at the event.