Tharoor’s article on ‘dynastic politics’ triggers fresh row

NEW DELHI: Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor's article on dynastic politics — saying it poses a “grave threat to Indian democracy” and adding that the Nehru-Gandhi family “cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright” — has caused an unease to his party and handed fresh ammunition to the BJP to target the Opposition party.

- HT Correspondent

In a column published by Project Syndicate on October 31, the Thiruvanathapuram MP writes: “For decades, one family has towered over Indian politics. The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty ~ including independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and current opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ~ is bound up with the history of India's struggle for freedom. But it has also cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright. This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every part