The Congress is neither national nor Indian and not democratic either and has become a "bhai-bahan" party, BJP president J P Nadda said on Thursday in a sharp attack on dynastic political parties.
BJP president J P Nadda said that the Congress is neither national nor Indian and not democratic either and has become a bhai-bahan party.
The Congress is neither national nor Indian and not democratic either and has become a "bhai-bahan" party, BJP president J P Nadda said on Thursday in a sharp attack on dynastic political parties.
Addressing a seminar on "Threat of Dynastic Political Parties to Democratic Governance", Nadda said in dynastic parties, one person's interest reigns supreme and that such parties are a threat to democracy.
While the Constitution bars any discrimination on the basis of birth, the leadership in these parties is decided on the basis of birth and others are ignored, he said, mentioning a host of dynasty-run regional parties in almost every state as well as the Congress in his attack.
These parties lack any ideology and their sole aim is to grab power, Nadda alleged.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president blamed the Congress for the growth of regional parties, accusing the main opposition party of not giving space to regional aspirations during its dominance over national politics.
The BJP, he said, believes in "unity among diversity" and gives space to regional aspirations while keeping the centre strong.
As regional parties grow, personality cults become "overbearing and overwhelming" in these outfits, sidetracking ideology and local aspirations, Nadda said.
"What is most saddening is that the Congress has become neither national nor Indian nor democratic. It is also standing now as a party of bhai-bahan," he said, in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra playing key roles in running the show in their party.
The BJP is the only party where internal democracy is maintained, Nadda said.
Citing the presence of dynastic parties from Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he said family interests are supreme in these parties, vitiating the election process.
While the BJP, due to its ideological commitment and decades of struggle, does not find it difficult to deal with these parties, Nadda said political parties run in a healthy manner are important for a healthy democracy, adding that these parties are like monarchies within a democracy. Their sole aim is to grab power, he said.
"Regional parties want to come to power by any means. So they will go to the extent of polarisation on the basis of caste or religion. Issues of national importance are put aside and polarisation is done to grab power," Nadda alleged.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on the occasion that these regional parties are nothing short of a "private limited" company and blamed these outfits for cases of corruption, claiming that they need money for families to maintain their absolute power.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said the "prince" does not want to be the president of the party but nor does he want anyone else to take over, and the party is functioning without a head.
Sonia Gandhi is the interim president of the Congress. In his speech, BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said only eight of the 54 political parties recognised by the Election Commission are free of a dynastic rule which, he added, was a frightening reality.
Family-run parties are against the spirit of democracy, he said.