NEW DELHI: Having led BJP to a convincing win in the recent assembly elections during the run-up to which he had severely attacked “dynastic politics”, PM Modi on Tuesday targeted those within the party trying to leverage their influence for organising nominations and tickets for their wards.
BJP would never countenance leaders giving primacy to children and it was he who was responsible for this tough stance, the PM said in an attack directed at those party leaders who had lobbied hard, though unsuccessfully, to this end. His remarks came at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party.
BJP did not give in to pressure from former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya for nominating his son, Utkarsh, in one of the UP seats. Maurya, whose daughter Sanghamitra is a member of the Lok Sabha, crossed over to SP only to lose to the BJP candidate at Fazilnagar. BJP also denied tickets to sons of former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar and Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
The PM said he was “uncompromising” and will continue to oppose the politics of dynastic succession as it violated the spirit of democracy and encouraged casteism.
“This is not against Congress or any specific party… the stand is against a system, which is against democracy and encourages casteism,” said Modi after MPs feted him for leading the party to victory in four states.
Modi said BJP was in the forefront of the fight against parties, which have been reduced to family fiefdoms and, therefore, could not afford to allow the same culture to grow within its fold.
This assertion could cause consternation to many of the saffron elders who are approaching the unwritten “retirement threshold” and are keen to bequeath their seats to their children. Those who failed to get tickets for their kin had made dire predictions about the party’s prospects in the states, fanning the view of opposition that the saffron outfit was headed to defeat in all the five states which were at stake.
This was the third time in less than a week when the PM had spoken against the culture of dynastic succession in politics and nepotism, having dealt with the issue at length in his victory speech on March 10 and later while speaking at National Sports University.
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