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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  UP elections: BJP gives tickets on merit, not family ties, says Amit Shah
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UP elections: BJP gives tickets on merit, not family ties, says Amit Shah

Amit Shah targets Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav and Congress' Rahul Gandhi over dynasty politics, says BJP leaders work hard to earn election tickets

BJP president Amit Shah. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/MintPremium
BJP president Amit Shah. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah said his party does not believe in dynastic politics despite its move to distribute tickets to family members of senior leaders for the upcoming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

ALSO READ | UP elections: BJP’s 2nd candidate list favours family, dynastic connections

In an interview to CNN-News18, Shah said the BJP gives tickets based on a candidate’s merit and not family ties.

“Let me clarify our position here. Dynasty politics is when Akhilesh Yadav becomes CM of UP sidelining all other party leaders. Or when Omar Abdullah becomes CM after Farooq Abdullah. Jawaharlal Nehru followed by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia ruling through Manmohan Singh, and now Rahul… That is dynasty politics. In BJP, family members of leaders are free to work hard for the party, run for elections and become MLAs. But whether they will become CM or not depends solely on their merit. So let’s not have simplistic definitions on dynasty politics," he said.

ALSO READ | UP polls: It’s dynasty first for Samajwadi Party when it comes to seat allocation

“The greatness of BJP is that a man from a poor household can rise up to become the PM... A booth worker like me who used to do wall paintings for the party can become the national president. In this party, there can never be any dynasty politics," Shah said.

Dynastic considerations surfaced in the BJP’s second list of 155 candidates released on 22 January for the UP assembly elections. Among candidates named in the list are Pankaj Singh, son of home minister Rajnath Singh, from Noida, and Ashutosh Tandon, son of senior leader Lalji Tandon, from Lucknow east.

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Published: 30 Jan 2017, 12:02 AM IST
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