Dynastic parties threat to nation's democracy, says BJP chief J P Nadda

Dynastic political parties have become a threat to the democracy of the country, BJP national president J P Nadda has remarked, even as he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only scripted a new development story of India but also transformed the nation's political culture in the last eight years.

"BJP is now the only national party in the country while the Congress has been reduced to a bhai-behen (brother-sister) outfit. BJP is the only party that has neta (leader), niti (policy), niyat (intent), karyakram (programme), karyakarta (workers) and vaatavaran (environment), Nadda said, addressing a meeting of BJP state leaders in Vijayawada on Monday.

"Political culture and quality has changed because of the leadership of Narendra Modi. We are fighting dynastic parties that have become a danger to the democracy of the nation. Be it in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal...there are either baap-bete (father-son) parties or baap-beti (father-daughter) and bua-bhatija (aunt-nephew) party, the BJP chief said, referring to parties like JKNC, PDP, NCP, TMC, JD(S), Samajwadi and Akali Dal.

Nadda claimed that the so-called Indian National Congress was neither Indian, nor was it 'national' any more as it has been reduced to a bhai-behen (Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra) party.

Stating that the Prime Minister scripted a new development story of India in the last eight years, Nadda said the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shot up to Rs 233 lakh crore from Rs 112.33 lakh crore.

India was now number three in the world in energy consumption and number two in global retail trade growth.

"We have a strong business ecosystem, with 500 billion USD exports on hand. Our Foreign Direct Investment touched 84 billion USD," he pointed out.

India, according to IMF, was expected to witness a growth rate of 8.7 per cent.

The percentage of people living below the poverty line reduced from 22 to 10 over the last years, while those under the maximum poverty line came down to 0.8 per cent from one per cent, the BJP chief noted.

"A staggering amount of Rs 22 lakh crore has been transferred into the people's accounts under various direct benefit transfer schemes, with zero pilferage," he said.

"In the last eight years, 6.70 lakh new schools have been established, and literacy rate went up from 69 to 75 per cent. Fifteen new AIIMS have been set up, in addition to 170 new medical colleges across the country. It's a lengthy list that will take hours to read if I mention about other development works," Nadda said.

Nadda called upon the BJP rank and file in Andhra Pradesh to propagate the schemes being implemented by the Centre. He released a booklet on the Centre's assistance to AP in the last eight years, aimed at debunking the claims of the state parties.

He asked BJP workers to build the party in AP from the polling booth level by engaging with all sections of people, including the minorities. "We should be representing all sections of the society. It should be an inclusive organisation," he stressed.

AP BJP president Somu Veerraju, MPs G V L Narasimha Rao, C M Ramesh, T G Venkatesh, MLC P V N Madhav, former Union minister Daggubati Purandeswari, BJP state general secretary S Vishnuvardhan Reddy and other leaders attended the meeting.