LK Advani was the BJP president, followed by Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Shah himself and then JP Nadda, he pointed out. (File pic/PTI)
A son contesting an election is not family politics, controlling the leadership of the party is, said the union home minister in an exclusive interview with News18 Kannada while campaigning for the Karnataka assembly polls
In an exclusive interview with News18 Kannada, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, on being asked about the decision to field BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra, said, “Yediyurappa is not in electoral politics. What is the meaning of family politics?”
He then went on to cite the example of the Congress, naming Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Controlling the leadership of the party is family politics, he said.
“Mulayam Singh Yadav was succeeded by his son Akhilesh. Lalu Prasad was followed by Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav. Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray, and Aaditya Thackeray. This is called family politics. A son contesting an election is not family politics,” Shah said.
LK Advani was the BJP president, followed by Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Shah himself, and then JP Nadda, he pointed out.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Then Advani was the Leader of the Opposition. Then Narendra Modi took over. Where is family politics in this?” he said.
The ruling BJP is pulling out all stops to retain power in the state which is seen as a gateway to the south for the saffron party. It is locked in a tussle with the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).
Karnataka votes on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.
Watch the full interview with Home Minister Amit Shah at 8pm on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@News18Kannada and on News18 Kannada TV channel.
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