Congress defends dynastic politics, cites Pak, Nepal

PATNA: A day after BJP president Amit Shah raked up the issue of political dynasty in Congress, AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmad on Wednesday defended the likely elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president, saying it was usual human behaviour to support the family of the popular leaders who worked hard for the common people.
“The Congress today is getting mass support because its leaders of previous generation did good work for the well-being of common masses,” he explained.
Addressing the closing ceremony of yearlong celebration of former PM Indira Gandhi’s birth centenary, organised by the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee at the S K Memorial Hall in Patna, Ahmad said dynastic politics was prevalent in many countries across the world. “Even big democracies like the US and Canada are not unaffected from it,” he said.
Citing the example of Koirala family in Nepal, Ahmad said after B P Koirala, his son G P Koirala became Nepal PM for three times. In Bangladesh, he said, its first PM Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina became PM.
Ahmad also referred to the Bhuttos in Pakistan and the Kennedys in the US in this regard. “Is it wrong if people are extending love and support to the new generation of their popular leaders?” he asked.
Addressing an election rally in Gujarat on Tuesday, Shah said the Gujarat election would also decide if ‘vanshvad’ (dynastic rule) should triumph or Narendra Modi’s ‘vikasvad’ (development politics).
Congress MP from Supaul Ranjeeta Ranjan hailed Congress as a ‘khandani’ party. “In our culture, ‘khandani’ means a person hailing from a well-cultured family,” she said.
Recalling the contributions of Indira Gandhi on the occasion, most speakers referred to her historic decisions like creation of Bangladesh, nationalisation of banks and first nuclear test at Pokhran. At the same time, they described the Narendra Modi government’s decisions like demonetisation as anti-poor.