“The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty… 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…” – these are the words of Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor.
Congress MP Shashi Thaoor (Image credit: ANI)
“The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty… 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…” – these are the words of Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, which have equipped the BJP with fresh salvo against Leader of Opposition (LoP in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi.
In what is being seen as a direct attack against political “nepo babies” including Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, Tharoor lists the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty by name from “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”, in his article on opinion portal Project Syndicate dated October 31.
BJP’s fresh salvo at Congress
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a swipe at the Congress party over Tharoor’s article, which he saw as a direct attack against Gandhi and Yadav.“Wonder what repercussions will follow against Dr Tharoor for speaking so candidly,” the BJP leader further wrote in a post on X on Monday, i.e., November 3.
Here’s what Tharoor said
Tharoor, a former global diplomat, highlights that the sense of entitlement in such cases is so powerful that it can overshadow a poor track record, “enabling dynasts to remain at the helm of their parties despite successive electoral defeats”.
Tharoor, who lost the Congress presidentship election to Mallikarjun Kharge in 2022, argues that the decision-making power rests in the hands of a small clique. “Leadership-selection processes are often opaque, with decisions made by a small clique or even a single leader – figures with little interest in rocking the boat. As a result, nepotism generally trumps meritocracy”.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dnaindia.com
