NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has praised senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s latest article criticising dynastic politics, using it to target the Gandhi family and the Congress leadership.BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called the piece “insightful” and hailed Tharoor as a “Khatron ke Khiladi” for directly questioning political succession in his own party.
Tharoor flags ‘Family Business’ in Indian politics
In his essay titled “Indian Politics Are a Family Business” published on Project Syndicate, Tharoor described dynastic politics as a “grave threat to Indian democracy” and urged India to move toward “meritocracy.”He argued that leadership in the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties including the Samajwadi Party, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and DMK has often passed from one generation to the next.Tharoor wrote that from Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Nehru-Gandhi family has cemented the idea that political leadership can be a “birthright.” “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,” his article read. He also cited examples of other political families including Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray in Maharashtra, Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, Farooq and Omar Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir and M Karunanidhi and MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu to highlight how dynastic politics extends beyond the Congress party.
BJP seizes on Tharoor’s remarks
Responding to the essay, BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla said it “rightly exposes how the Gandhi family turned Indian politics into a family business.”Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla said, “A very insightful piece has been written by Dr Tharoor on how Indian politics has become family business and in the opening of that piece he has explained how the first family of Congress party, the Gandhi-Vadra dynasty has been responsible for cementing this negative thought that political position and power can be a matter of birth right.”In a post on X, Poonawalla wrote, “Dr Tharoor has become Khatron ke Khiladi. 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. Praying for you… The first family is very vengeful.”He also added, “Very insightful piece written by Dr Shashi Tharoor on how Indian politics has become a family business — he has launched a direct attack on India’s Nepo kid Rahul & chhota nepo kid Tejashwi Yadav!”Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan welcomed Tharoor’s remarks, saying they were based on “experience” and would “hurt Congress and RJD because their politics are limited to family.”
Congress hits back:
Congress leaders Rashid Alvi played down the controversy, saying dynastic politics exists across fields, not just in politics.Speaking to reporters, he said: “The public makes the decisions in a democracy… You cannot impose a restriction that says you cannot contest elections because your father was an MP…. This is happening in every field… What way will you find for this?…”Tharoor has previously faced criticism from Congress party for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “energy, dynamism and willingness to engage,” calling them “a prime asset for India on the global stage.”Tharoor’s recent alignment with the ruling party on several occasions, a noticeable departure from the Congress partyline, has drawn significant attention. Notably, he was selected to lead India’s diplomatic outreach under Operation Sindoor, representing the nation’s stance on the global stage. He headed the delegation to several countries across the Americas, including the United States.
