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HomePolitics‘Sonia Gandhi would’ve been a receptionist’: To woo youth, BJP raises anti-dynasty...

‘Sonia Gandhi would’ve been a receptionist’: To woo youth, BJP raises anti-dynasty pitch

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Party organises first mock parliament for the youth in New Delhi, urges them to shun the Congress brand of dynasty politics.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party organised its first mock parliament Saturday, an initiative pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself ahead of the big 2019 elections. And its central message to young voters: reject the dynasty politics practised by the Congress for decades.

“This is not a party that practices dynastic politics, nepotism and favouritism,” said Shyam Jaju, national vice-president of the BJP, in his inaugural address to the youth parliament session in the national capital.

“We are a cadre-based party, and we and the PM depend on people who emerge from the ground. We believe in building a new generation of leaders,” he told the youth, most of whom were members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who participated in the mock session himself as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, too made sure to drive home the point that the Congress’s politics of dynasty is something that must be rejected by the youth.

“If your shehzada Rahul Gandhi was not born from a queen’s womb, he would also be selling pakodas… If your leader Sonia Gandhi was not married to Rajiv, she would have been working as a receptionist in Italy,” he said amid cheers from the crowd.

Incidentally, two of Bidhuri’s nephews, who are also party workers, were present at the event initiated by the MP.

In a recent ‘Mann ki Baat’ address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi had talked about organising mock parliaments for the youth. “We can have mock parliaments in all our districts, where we discuss how to make development a mass movement and transform India,” he had said.

Bidhuri said events like this would help the party gain traction. “Through a discussion on various schemes of the government, ideological debates, etc. among the youth, the party will obviously gain popularity,” he said.

Planned questions, sharp jibes

The heated mock session, which was peppered with sharp jibes from both the ‘government’ and ‘opposition’, saw issues like demonetisation, GST, jobs, corruption, etc. being discussed.

However, the questions had already been planned and the opposition – even though sharp in its attacks on the government –largely consisted of members of the BJP itself.

Amit Singh, 25, a member of the ‘opposition’, said: “We are all from the BJP’s Yuva Morcha. This event is an attempt to teach youngsters like me how democracy operates at the highest levels… If we don’t learn, we would also be sleeping in Parliament like Rahul Gandhi when we climb up the political ladder.

“We hope the feedback we give and the issues we raise reach the PM through this platform.”

Light on Hindutva

While the mock session debate steered clear of controversial subjects like the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Article 370 of the Constitution, lynchings, etc., subtle Hindutva symbols remained in the backdrop nevertheless.

The session started with the organisers exhorting the participants to chant slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. In the backdrop, were images of Swami Vivekananda and depictions of Bharat Mata.

“There will be some politics, and then the event will go ahead just as the actual Parliament operates,” Jaju had said at the start.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. BJP wants to reject Dynasties and Dynastic politics – what about Rajnath Singh’s son in UP Assembly? What about Biduri’s relatives? What about Vasundhara Raje’s son? What about Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s son in MP?

    BJP is advocating Congress-mukt Bharat. Agreed. But it is also advocating autocracy of BJP-ruled Bharat where it wants no opposition to its so-called ‘Development’ policies.

    BJP, at one point of time, accused Congress of harbouring Sant Bhindranwale. But what is it doing in India today – it is turning a blind eye towards “extremist” and “anti-national” vigilante groups to garner votes. It is harbouring these groups that will go out of its control.

    Lastly, is it the ‘Hindutva’ sanskar to take personal jibes at RaGa and SoGa? The personal comments on Sonia Gandhi are definitely avoidable. The aggressive spokespersons of BJP might say that Congress did the same to NaMo with its Chaiwallah comment and hence it has the right to retort back. Then, what is the difference between BJP and Congress? NOTHING……..Absolutely, nothing!

    • Sir this youth parliament was knowledge based step…. It was brought to increase knowledge on ROP..RULE OF PROCEDURE…. dont turn this into political issue…. Even other party members are supporting it…

  2. There is little empirical evidence that such coarse, ugly rhetoric translates into electoral success. An incumbent will always be judged by results delivered.

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