BJP hits back at Rahul on personality-oriented politics

January 15, 2014 03:55 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 06:03 pm IST - New Delhi

Criticising the personality-oriented politics of the Congress, Leader of Oppositon in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley cited examples of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi for running the party at the “whims of an individual”. File photo

Criticising the personality-oriented politics of the Congress, Leader of Oppositon in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley cited examples of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi for running the party at the “whims of an individual”. File photo

The Bharatiya Janata Party has reacted sharply to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s comments and criticism of its prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modui and for dismissing the ‘Modi for PM’ campaign as “personality-oriented politics”.

On Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley hit out at the Gandhi scion and said: “Mr. Gandhi has got the principle against personality centred party right; he has got his facts all wrong.”

In an interview to a newspaper Mr. Gandhi had commented that governments should not be run on the whims and fancies of a particular person, in reply to a question on the BJP’s focus on pitching Mr. Modi for the Prime Minister’s position.

Mr. Jaitely said the Congress is in itself an example of a party that is run on the whims of an individual.

Accusing Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of initiating dynastic rule in the Congress, he said: “…When he made Indira Gandhi President of the AICC in the late 1950s it was the beginning of Congress Party’s official acknowledgement that dynastic rule was ushering in. Many senior leaders were by-passed in order to enable the daughter of the Prime Minister to become the Party President.”

The BJP leader said Mrs. Gandhi’s personality that “dominated her politics” led to the Congress split in 1969. “In 1973 her attempt to undermine India’s judiciary became a part of the Congress’s ideology. In 1975 when Emergency was imposed, authoritarianism became a part of the Congress ideology. Institutional destruction was accepted as the Opposition, the Parliament, the media and the Judiciary were shown their place. ‘India is Indira and Indira is India’ was officially proclaimed by its AICC President as the Party’s slogan.”

Tracing Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Jaitley said:” …By 1987 defending and covering up scams became a part of the Party’s commitment. When the senior leadership was involved in trying to implicate Mr. VP Singh’s son in the fake St. Kitts case the whole party stood up for the fabrication. What better evidence does one need of the Party’s personality centric politics?”

Training his guns on the current AICC president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, the BJP leader said with her foray into politics, the Congress accepted the principle that a person of foreign origin can be the Prime Minister of India. “Rahul Gandhi’s decision to overrule the central Cabinet through his ‘non-sense’ comment was pointer to the fact an individual was taller than the party.”

Accusing the Congress of preferential treatment, he said: “In a structured party like the BJP or the Left, Rahul Gandhi would still have been struggling to get his first assignment as an office bearer in the Party structure or in a legislative body. It is only in a personality and family dominated set-up like the Congress that he can be nominated as the unquestioned supremo.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.