Shashi Tharoor makes ‘direct attack’ against political ‘nepo babies’ including Rahul, Tejashwi: ‘Influence of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty…’
“The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty… is linked to the history of India’s freedom struggle. But it also strengthened the idea that political leadership could be an inherent right…” – these are the words of Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram.
Congress MP Shashi Thaoor (Image credit: ANI)
“The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty… is linked to the history of India’s freedom struggle. But it also strengthened the idea that political leadership could be an inherent right…” – these are the words of Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who has armed the BJP with a fresh salvo against Leader of Opposition (LoP in Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi.
Seen as a direct attack on political “nepo babies” including Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, Tharoor, in his article on opinion portal Project Syndicate, names the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty as “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.” Dated 31 October.
BJP’s new salvo on Congress
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla came down hard on the Congress party over Tharoor’s article, which he saw as a direct attack on Gandhi and Yadav. “I wonder what repercussions his speaking so candidly will have against Dr. Tharoor,” the BJP leader also wrote in a post on X on Monday, November 3.
Here’s what Tharoor said
Tharoor, a former global diplomat, emphasizes that in such situations the sense of entitlement is so strong that it can overshadow a poor track record, “enabling dynasties to remain at the helm of their parties despite successive electoral defeats.”
Tharoor, who lost the Congress presidential election to Mallikarjun Kharge in 2022, argues that decision-making power is in the hands of a small group. “Leadership selection processes are often opaque, with decisions made by a small clique or even a single leader; these figures have little interest in turning the tables. As a result, nepotism often prevails over meritocracy.”
