New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) Even as it attacks the Congress for its "dynastic politics", the BJP appears to be charting a similar course going by the number of sons and daughters of its leaders in the fray for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has often derided Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as "shehzada (prince)" in his election rallies and refers to the Congress as a "sultanate (kingdom)."
But when it came to ticket allotments, the saffron party behaved no differently and nominations for princelings abound.
The sons of two sitting and three former chief ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls despite the party's stated opposition to "dynastic politics".
Anurag Thakur, son of former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is re-contesting from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, while Varun Gandhi, MP and son of party leader Maneka Gandhi, has shifted to Sultanpur from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. Sultanpur is adjacent to Congress vice president and Varun's cousin Rahul Gandhi's Amethi constituency.
Poonam Mahajan, daughter of former union minister Pramod Mahajan, is the BJP candidate from Mumbai North-Central.
Former union minister and party MP Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant is fighting for his father's Hazaribagh seat in Jharkhand.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh's son Rajbir Singh is contesting from Etah.
In Delhi, former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma's son Parvesh Verma, an MLA, is the party candidate from West Delhi.
Dushyant Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is fighting from Jhalawar in the state.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh's son Abhishek is the party candidate from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency.
But the BJP insists the party cannot be compared to the Congress.
"The Congress dynasty is the dynasty of leadership. It is not about making someone an MP or an MLA. In the Congress, it starts from the top and percolates to the bottom and is dynastic in totality," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar told IANS.
"In the BJP's case, the party leadership, be it Atalji or Advaniji or even Rajnathji, no one has monopolised decision-making.
"In the Congress, only the Nehru-Gandhi family takes decisions...that's the Congress' legacy; the final decision maker is dynastic," he added.
Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, however, accused the BJP of double standards and said that not just the party but also its allies were also dynastic.
"Modi regularly criticises dynastic politics. The BJP has three allies - the Badal dynasty, the Thackeray dynasty and now the Paswan dynasty," Ahmed countered.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) headed by Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, the Shiv Sena headed by Uddhav Thackeray and Bihar's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) headed by Ram Vilas Paswan are part of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Ahmed said he was a third generation Congressman and was proud of this fact.
"I am a third generation Congress leader and I am proud of it. The BJP is not that old. How could they have third or fourth generation leaders," Ahmed asked while speaking to IANS.
Analyst Pradip Kumar Datta said that children of BJP leaders getting tickets indicated "Congressisation" of the party.
"I don't know if dynastic politics is native to the Indian way of thinking... the 'Parivar' (Sangh Parivar) was supposed to be about ideological parivar (family), not one based on kinship," said Datta, professor and former head of Delhi University's department of political science.
"Perhaps it is the 'Congressisation' of the BJP. On one hand we have the family lineages and on the other we have 'Modi-fication'... everything is focussed around Modi, not the BJP," he added.
UP Election 2022: For the fourth phase, the police will be tight, security will be strictly guarded in sensitive areas
After the peaceful completion of three phases of elections, now the eyes of the police are on the sensitive areas of the fourth phase. The police will be tightly guarded in 59 assembly constituencies
Salman Khan: Bhaijaan is jealous of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said - on such a big post...
The 29th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) began with grandeur at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday. Many well-known personalities including West Bengal Chief
IPL 2022: After reaching the final, Gujarat Titans asked- what to do now with four days off? Rashid Khan gave a funny answer
In IPL 2022, Rashid Khan performed brilliantly with the ball and bat for Gujarat Titans. While topping the league stage, the team first qualified for the playoffs and now they have made it to the
Swati Maliwal Case: '...on the contrary, the thief scolded the policeman', JP Nadda's attack on Kejriwal; Said- Delhi CM has been exposed
Launching a strong attack on Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case of assault on Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, BJP President JP Nadda has
World Cup 2023, 44 Days Left: Yuvraj Singh, the hero of the 2011 WC, did not leave the team even after being unwell
India won the trophy in the 2011 ODI World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the final. This tournament was special for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, but the biggest hero of that World Cup
Welcome Modi's remarks on religious freedom: EU
New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) The European Union Wednesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on religious freedom and said that his remarks were "entirely in line with the Indian
Now the validity of your monthly prepaid plan will be 30 days, not 28, TRAI gave these instructions
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has taken an important decision for prepaid mobile customers. TRAI on Friday directed all telecom companies to give the validity of mobile recharge 30 days
Then the speed of Corona started increasing: Delhi government's big decision; 500 will have to be paid for not wearing a mask. fine, schools will remain open
In view of the danger of new variants of Kovid, the Delhi government has made it compulsory to apply masks. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) took this decision in its meeting on
Weather Update: Heavy rain alert in many states including UP-Uttarakhand and Himachal; what's the weather like in your place
The Southwest Monsoon has hit Mumbai and Delhi simultaneously. This has happened for the first time in decades. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), heavy rains will occur in many
Maldives: Muizzu's arrogance in Parliament after his anti-India statement! The biggest boycott in the history of Maldives
Maldives Opposition Party boycott President Speech: Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu has announced the return of Indian soldiers to their country. He announced this in his first speech in the
