Dynastic politics is poison: Amit Shah

BHOPAL: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday termed dynastic politics as "poison" and said that under this system, the control over a party and the government led by it remains in the hands of one family alone.

He accused the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) of indulging in dynastic politics.

Shah also accused the Congress of sponsoring "caste movements" in Madhya Pradesh and a few other states 2015 onwards "to spread the poison of casteism", which he said led to the defeat of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2018 MP assembly elections.

The minister was talking to reporters here during his day-long visit to the state, during which he released the Madhya Pradesh government's 'report card' from 2003-2023. Assembly elections in the central state are due this year-end.

Replying to a question on dynastic politics in the BJP, Shah said, "I don't want to name any leader, but the dynastic politics of Congress, DMK, Shiv Sena (UBT) means the members of only one family will come in the party and the government. This is what dynastic politics is called."

Defending the distribution of tickets to family members of leaders in BJP, Shah said, "Somewhere a few were given tickets on the basis of merit. Don't dilute the issue of dynastic politics by saying this...This is poison. When parties become the property of a family, then what will be the place for those who come from the ground level?"

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not have any political family background, he said.

"I became the president of the party, no one in my family was in politics. (BJP chief J P) Nadda ji's family has no political background. What is the background of Shivraj ji (MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan)? Don't create a fuss by playing around with the Congress agenda. In dynastic politics, the ownership of power remains in the hands of one family," Shah added.

When asked if Chouhan will continue to be the chief minister if the BJP retains power after the assembly election to be held by the year-end, Shah said, "Why are you doing the party's work? Our party will do its own work. Shivraj ji is CM and we are in the election...Take the development works of Modi ji (PM Modi) and Shivraj ji to the public. Also highlight if Congress did any development."

In reply to a question about the BJP's prospects in MP in view of the party's defeat in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, Shah cited the examples of Manipur, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, where the party won the consecutive elections and also at the Centre under Modi's leadership.

"We have become a party by facing defeats. We had nothing in 1950, but now we have the best rate of victory from panchayat to Parliament. It was our leader Narendra Modi, who formed a government of full majority twice after a gap of 30 years," Shah said.

When asked about the allegations levelled against the BJP by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh that riots will be instigated like Nuh (Haryana) in Madhya Pradesh also, Shah said, "Whatever is in his mind, is coming out of his mouth. Ask Digvijaya Singh after one month why the riots did not happen."

In his address earlier while releasing the report card, Shah alleged that 24 different scams took place under the Congress rule, including 2G, Coal, Satyam, Adarsh and LIC housing, and sought replies from the grand old party and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath.

Responding to a question about not taking action against Congress leaders and Kamal Nath in these scams, Shah said, "We don't take action on the basis of political vendetta. All the scams that I mentioned are being investigated. If you listen to the speeches of Congress and other leaders, you will see hue and cry over the misuse of investigation agencies."

"But investigation takes place as per its own pace and according to the court rules. If this question is being asked on behalf of Kamal Nath, then he should not make any such mistake. This may increase the speed of investigation," he said.

Asked about the shortcomings leading to the defeat in the last assembly polls in MP, Shah said that Congress had started caste movements in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states from 2015 to spread the poison of casteism.

"The assembly polls of 2018 were held under the shadow of casteism, but the BJP got about one lakh votes more than the opposition party. This time, people have seen the 15-month rule of Congress (from December 2018 to March 2020) and have an option of comparative analysis," he said.

The Union minister said the BJP wants elections to be contested on the agenda of development.

In reply to a question about the announcements of freebies by political parties ahead of polls, Shah said that the welfare schemes of the BJP government, like free housing and electricity, were started long back.