In BJP, even tea seller can aspire to be PM: Rajnath

Attacking the Congress’ first family, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that only the BJP practises internal democracy as even a tea seller can aspire to become prime minister and a farmer a party president, which is contrary to Gandhi's first in the ruling dispensation.

“Internal democracy is only practised in the BJP where a tea seller (Narendra Modi) can aspire to become prime minister and a farmer can become president. But in the Congress, only people born in a family can dream of becoming prime minister and president,” Singh told the gathering at national council meeting taking place at Ramlila Maidan.

He also said that such parties also face inherent problems as “when the family disintegrates, the party also vanishes”. 

He shared the dais with other party top brass including L K Advani, Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M M Joshi and BJP chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Raman Singh and Manohar Parrikar. Vasundhara Raje could not attend as she was not well.

Singh was perhaps provoked to take on the Congress owing to former UPA minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s tea-seller jibe at Modi during the AICC session on Friday.  “That reflected the feudal mindset of the Congress,” Singh remarked.

Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s charge of the BJP indulging in communal politics, Singh launched a counterattack, accusing them of dividing the people on the religious lines.

“I want to remind Sonia Gandhi that it was Manmohan Singh who had said that Muslims have the first right on India's resources. If there is any party which takes decisions based on religious considerations, it is the Congress. If there is any communal party, it is the Congress,” said the party
president.

AAP also targeted

Refraining from taking the name of the Aam Admi Party, he said that opportunist political parties, including the Congress, are colluding together directly or indirectly to stop the BJP from coming to power.

In his long speech, the party chief came down heavily on the UPA’s misgovernance, corruption and pulling down the fiscal health but at the same time gave some insight into the BJP’s vision on tackling country’s social, political, economic and diplomatic problems.