Shashi Tharoor’s article on ‘dynastic politics’ triggers fresh row

Referring to the Congress MP’s column, BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan termed it a “veiled attack” on Nehru-Gandhi family’s “misrule”.

New Delhi : Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor’s article on dynastic politics — saying it poses a “grave threat to Indian democracy” and adding that the Nehru-Gandhi family “cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright” — has caused an unease to his party and handed fresh ammunition to the BJP to target the Opposition party.

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's article on dynastic politics in India has triggered a political row. (PTI)

In a column published by Project Syndicate on October 31, the Thiruvanathapuram MP writes: “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.”

“While the Nehru-Gandhi family is associated with the Indian National Congress, dynastic succession prevails across the political spectrum,” Tharoor says, adding it is time to trade “dynasty for meritocracy”.

“Mr Tharoor having been suffocated and stifled by the dynastic stranglehold of the Congress opines that dynastic politics pose a grave threat to democracy and that when political power is determined by lineage, rather than ability, commitment, or grassroots engagement, the quality of governance suffer. This seems like a veiled attack on Nehru-Gandhi family’s misrule which severely affected India’s progress for decades,” Kesavan said.

Though Tharoor was yet to react to claims by BJP leaders, his party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said: “Leadership always comes from merit. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the most capable Prime Minister of this country... Indira Gandhi proved herself by sacrificing her life. Rajiv Gandhi served this country by sacrificing his life. So, if someone talks about the Gandhi family as a dynasty, then which other family in India had the sac