India Is Being Run By Dynasties: Rahul Gandhi

Washington: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said dynasties are commonplace in India, from politics to business, and stressed that a person's capabilities are more important than pedigree.

His comments in the US set off a chorus of protest by the BJP in India with Union Minister Smriti Irani calling him a "failed dynast" and a failed politician. Speaking at the University of California, Berkeley, Gandhi also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of divisive politics, creating space for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ruining the economy. Responding to a question from students, Gandhi said that he was "absolutely ready" to take up an executive responsibility if the party asked him to do so. Responding to another question whether the Congress party was more associated with dynastic politics, Gandhi argued that India is being run by dynasties.

"Most parties in India have that problem So...Mr Akhilesh Yadav is a dynast. Mr Stalin (son of M Karunanidhi in DMK) is a dynast... even Abhishek Bachchhan is a dynast. So that's how India runs. So don't get after me because that's how they India is run. By the way, last, I recall, Mr Ambanis are running the business. That's also going on in Infosys. So that's what happens in India," Gandhi said as he listed several prominent Indians born into famous families.

But, he said there were a large number of people in the Congress Party who were not from dynastic families. "And I can name them in every state. There are also people who happen to have a father, or a grandmother or a great grandfather in politics. They do exist," he said. "The real question is whether the person actually a capable and a sensitive person," the 47-year-old Gandhi said. Gandhi said around 2012, the Congress Party "stopped having conversations with the people".

He said this could be a problem for any party which is in power for 10 years. "The vision that we laid out in 2004 was designed at best for a 10-year period. And it was pretty clear that the vision that we laid out in 2004 by the time we arrived in 2010-11 was not working anymore," he said. "Somewhere around 2012, and I say this, a certain arrogance crept into the Congress party. And they stopped having that conversation." When asked if he wanted to take up an executive role in the Congress Party, he responded by saying, "I am absolutely ready to do that".

"The idea of non-violence is what has allowed this huge mass of people to rise up together." He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy. "Whereas I completely agree with their positioning as far as the (ties with) the US are concerned, I think they're making India vulnerable because, if you look at Nepal, the Chinese are there. If you look at Burma the Chinese are there. If you look at Sri Lanka, the Chinese are there. If you look at Maldives, the Chinese are there," he said. "So on basic direction (of the foreign policy) I agree...friendship with the United States, close bond with United States. But don't isolate India, because it gets dangerous," Gandhi said.

Democracy Is Not Beholden To Dynasty, BJP To Rahul On Dynasty Politics

New Delhi: Terming Rahul Gandhi a "failed dynast", the BJP on Tuesday hit back at the Congress Vice President for defending dynastic politics and reminded him that the top three constitutional posts in the country are held by common people with merit and that democracy is not beholden to dynasty.

"The fact that he (Gandhi) says that dynast and dynasty are the very fulcrum in India is itself an anomaly. The three dignitaries (President, Vice President and Prime Minister) in the highest constitutional positions today are in themselves an indication that Indian democracy thrives and gives opportunity to merit and is not beholden to dynasty," Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani told a press conference.

She was responding to the remarks of Rahul Gandhi about dynastic politics and that most of the country runs like this. "The President (Ram Nath Kovind) was born in a marginalised family and has received the rank on his own merit. The Vice President, born in the family of a farmer after years of activism, is being blessed with leading the nation as the Vice President," she said. Irani said that Gandhi projected India as if there is dynasty everywhere and tried to give an impression on foreign soil that "if it were not for dynasty, nothing works well in the Indian political system".

On Gandhi's criticism of the government's handling of the Kashmir issue, she said: "The fact that Gandhi has chosen to attack Modi on Jammu and Kashmir, possibly what might have slipped by him is the legacy of challenges the Nehru-Gandhi family left behind the entire country to tackle with regards to the Kashmir issue. Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-week visit to the US to interact with political leaders, global thinkers and overseas Indians, spoke on the political environment in the country, the Congress party, the effects of demonetisation among other issues.