Countering the Congress’ focus on young leaders in its campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said the Congress was encouraging “dynastic succession”.
BJP General Secretary Sushma Swaraj claimed that unlike her party, where the growth of young leaders was linked to their ability, the Congress had the tradition of admitting sons and daughters of leaders.
“The succession of leadership in the Congress is on compassionate grounds — as it happens in the jobs for the dependents of employees after their death,” Swaraj said in the presence of party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and President Rajnath Singh.
Besides Rahul Gandhi, Swaraj also named Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jatin Prasada, Priya Dutt and Sachin Pilot to make her point.
BJP is apparently rattled by the fact that Gandhi’s image as a next-generation leader in the Congress’ election campaign, as against the 81-year-old Advani, is aimed at attracting young voters.
While Advani had been projected as the BJP candidate for the post of prime minister much earlier, the party is clearly surprised by the Congress using its trump card in Rahul Gandhi.
Swaraj was speaking at a function to commemorate the memory of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Deendayal Upadhaya.
The party also used the occasion to display the tech-savvy approach of its leadership as Advani and Swaraj replied to the questions from the party’s overseas supporters through the internet.
Chanting the development mantra, Advani said he had plans to connect each Indian village with internet. This, he admitted, was based on the development model of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He also said that in case he became the prime minister, he proposed to broad-base the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and incorporate IT in it.
