New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at the BJP saying the saffron party has been pursuing dynastic politics for years, but continues to level the charge at the grand old party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently charged that Madhya Pradesh Congress veterans Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh were busy settling their sons Nakul Nath and Jaiwardhan Singh respectively rather than worrying about development of the state.
In the past, the PM and other senior BJP leaders targeted former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over dynastic politics. The Congress hit back at the BJP over the appointment of Vijendra Yediyurappa, son of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, as the new Karnataka unit chief on November 10. “The BJP should stop levelling the charge of being a dynastic party on the Congress after the appointment of Vijendra Yediyurappa as the new Karnataka unit chief. They are hypocritical people. They have double standards over the issue. They pursue dynastic politics, but accuse others of indulging in it,” senior state leader Shobha Oza told ETV Bharat.
“There are several examples of political dynasties in the BJP, including in Madhya Pradesh. For instance, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son Kartikeya, former Chief Minister Sunder Lal Patwa’s nephew Surendra Patwa and former MLA Akash Vijaywargiya, son of veteran Kailash Vijaywargiya, who has been fielded this time. In Uttar Pradesh, they have Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh. There are several other examples,” she said.
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According to the Congress leader, the BJP leaders rake up such issues during poll time to deflect public attention from the real matters. “The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for 18 years, but has little to showcase in the name of achievement. The Congress instead has been talking about the basic issues like jobs, education, safety of women, plight of farmers and price rise and is getting a good response from the people. The BJP just wants to deflect public attention from these issues,” said Oza.
“Vijendra Yediyurappa’s appointment has exposed the dynastic politics of BJP. First, he is the son of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who had to be removed over charges of corruption. Second, the BJP took so long to decide on the new Karnataka chief shows the infighting in the party,” AICC functionary BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
“The BJP cannot deny two facts. That former Karnataka Chief Minister has been guilty over charges of corruption and that Vijendra is his son. But the PM, who appointed Vijendra, goes on claiming that he is fighting against corruption and dynastic politics,” AICC functionary Chandan Yadav said. According to Yadav, Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress chief in 2019 taking responsibility for the poll debacle and refused to contest internal party polls in 2022.
“Veteran Mallikarjun Kharge was duly elected party chief and has been managing the organisation for a year now. The Gandhis regard him and do not interfere in his functioning. No member of the Gandhi family held any government position in the past 30 years and they are just working for the party now. Why then does the BJP keep levelling such false charges against our leader,” Yadav added.
