Shahzada Rahul starts debate on dynastic politics; BJP simply can't stop talking about it

After Rahul Gandhi made his statement on dynastic politics in the US, the BJP has been continuously attacking him over the issue.

New Delhi, Sep 26: Who says Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is politically "irrelevant"? Anything he says (even if that means quoting wrong facts and figures), not just social media, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too simply can't stop talking about it even after the passage of several days.

A case in point is Rahul's comment on prevalence of dynastic politics (of which Rahul himself is a part of and probably the most 'shining' example of it) in India. Since the time Rahul at an interaction with students at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States (US) said that "India is run by dynasts" recently, a debate has started back home about the prevalence of dynastic politics in the country.

Probably, the entire issue on dynastic politics would not have become so big had Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani would have simply ignored what Rahul had said in the US.

Since then, the BJP has been constantly lambasting Rahul over dynastic politics and in the process showed the saffron party's insecurity over the existence of the scion of Gandhi family in the space of Indian politics.

The BJP's jittery over Rahul's comments especially on dynastic politics could not be missed as even party president Amit Shah decided to attack Rahul over it on two occasions (the most recent one was on Monday).

Because of the BJP's obsession with the Gandhi family, it is Rahul who is getting the maximum publicity (remember, even bad publicity is good publicity). Responding to the question of whether the Congress was more associated with dynastic politics in the US, Rahul argued that India was being run by dynasties.

"Most parties in India have that problem So...Mr. Akhilesh Yadav is a dynast. Mr. Stalin [son of M. Karunanidhi in the DMK] is a dynast... even Abhishek Bachchhan is a dynast. So that's how India runs. So don't get after me because that's how they India is run. By the way, last, I recall, Mr. Ambanis are running the business. That's also going on in Infosys. So that's what happens in India," he said as he listed several prominent Indians born into famous families.

But, he said there were a large number of people in the Congress who were not from dynastic families.

Immediately after the media reported about Rahul's address (after Berkeley address, Rahul addressed students at the Princeton University during his recent two-week US tour) , which also included criticism on the Narendra Modi government, Irani decided to carry out her 'surgical strike' against the Congress VP.

Irani called Rahul a "failed dynast" and said Indian democracy runs on merit as is exemplified by the fact that the "Prime Minister, President, Vice President and even the BJP president aren't from political backgrounds". Not just that, PM Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu "all come from humble backgrounds".

"It shows the failed strategy of Rahul. That he's going to an international stage to speak about his failed political journey in a country where people didn't accept him."

As if Irani's scathing attack on Rahul was not enough, the BJP thought that the entire issue of dynastic politics could be used as a political "missile" to target the Congress again and again.

Moreover, the BJP, including the PM, has always been critical about the Gandhi family and have called Rahul as a "shahzada" (prince) on several occasions. So after Irani, senior BJP leaders like Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley and VP Venkaiah Naidu too targeted Rahul for his take on India's so-called dynasty culture.

Finance minister Jaitley said he was "embarrassed" listening to Rahul speaking about dynastic politics in India during an address in the US. Jaitley said some political parties think that being centered around dynasty is an asset, but in the long run it becomes a burden.

"Mujhe sharam aayi jab Amreeka mein baith ke kaha gaya ki parivarvaad is desh ke svabhaav mein hai (I was embarrassed when someone sitting in America said that dynasty politics is endemic to India)," Jailtey told.

Naidu, even after leaving the BJP to become the VP of the country and thus turning "apolitical", could not stop taking a dive into the debate over dynastic politics. The VP took a not-so-veiled dig at Rahul by making a rather poetic statement on the entire topic.

"Dynasty and democracy can't go together. Dynasty is nasty but tasty to some people," Naidu said. The VP of India was quick to add: "(I am) not speaking about a party or person."

On Monday, once again BJP president Shah decided to target Rahul and his dynastic politics.

Shah slammed Congress VP on the issue of dynastic politics, saying BJP believes in the politics of performance, which aims at alleviating the suffering of the people and ensures their welfare though 'swachhta', poverty eradication, fighting graft and terror and ending caste and communal politics.

Shah spoke against Rahul at the BJP national executive meet in the national capital, where he emphasised the "vision of New India" envisaged by Modi and exhorted the party workers to work towards achieving it in the next five years.

Taking on Rahul, Shah said he had compromised the dignity of the nation by stating during his recent foreign visit that belonging to a dynasty is a must in Indian politics and alleging that the Indian economy is not doing well.

Shah said the top constitutional posts - that of the president of India, the vice-president, the PM and the Lok Sabha speaker - are held by people who have risen from humble backgrounds through their performance, merit and hard work.

Finding the BJP harping on the same subject, the Congress, which was quiet all these days in spite of repeated verbal assaults on Rahul, decided to attack the BJP on Monday, so that the issue remains "burning" to carry forward Rahul's publicity campaign.

Hitting out at Shah over his criticism of Rahul on dynasty politics, the Congress on Monday said that the "BJP should look inwards as to who follows the practice".

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: "Those who talk about dynasty, if they don't believe in dynasty then why are Prem Kumar Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh in Parliament? What are they doing in Lok Sabha?

"Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, against whom there are charges of PDS scam, what is his son doing in Parliament. Before pointing fingers at others, BJP president should look inwards," he added.

Tewari lambasted the BJP for being selective in their approach. "They seem to suffer from permanent amnesia when it comes to their own corruption."

Now, we know the BJP would not remain silent on Tewari's reply to Shah's criticism. Thus the BJP and the Congress will carry their tu tu main main over dynastic politics for another few months, till one more 'irrelevant' subject comes to the fore.

Both the ruling and the main opposition parties hardly discuss about important issues like creation of jobs, downward spiral of economy, crisis in agriculture and women's security, to name a few, because in fighting over "irrelevant things" our political parties try to find their own "compatibility".

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