PM Modi hits out at dynastic politics

PTI, Jan 12, 2021, 1:09 PM IST

New Delhi: Describing dynastic politics as the ‘biggest enemy of democracy’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said it has to be rooted out completely and asserted that the fortune of those who have been winning elections on the basis of surnames are now dwindling.

Addressing the valedictory function of the second National Youth Parliament Festival through video conference, Modi exhorted young people to join politics and said the ‘poison of dynastic politics’ will continue to weaken democracy unless they enter it.

‘The biggest enemy of democracy still exists and that is dynastic politics. Dynastic politics is such a challenge before the country and it has to be rooted out,’ Modi said.

‘It is true that (in politics) the fortunes of those who have been winning elections on the basis of surnames are dwindling. But in politics, this disease of dynastic politics is not completely finished. There are still people whose politics is aimed at saving their family,’ he said in an apparent swipe at several opposition parties, including the Congress.

It is never ‘nation first’ for those practising dynastic politics and it is all about ‘me and my family’ for them, he said.

‘Like all sectors, politics also needs youth. Their thinking, energy, enthusiasm is needed by the politics in the country. Earlier there was the sentiment that if any youth used to turn toward politics, then their family used to say that the youth is going astray,’ Modi said.

Noting that people used to say everything can change but not politics, Modi said today the people of the country have become so aware that they stand with honest people and give them a chance.

The people stand resolutely with people who come in politics with honesty and are committed to welfare, he noted.

‘The awareness that has come in the country has created pressure, those whose legacy was corruption, their corruption has become a burden on them. This is the power of the awareness of the common citizen,’ Modi said.

Three national winners of the festival also expressed their views during the event in the central hall of Parliament.

In his address, Modi also paid rich tributes to Swami Vivekananda, whose birth anniversary fell on Tuesday, and said his ideals have inspired people, including during the freedom struggle, of every generation.