A dynastic party cannot take India forward: Amit Shah's jibe at Congress

NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah today took a jibe at the Congress, saying a party which considered "dynasty" as the quality benchmark for selecting its leader, could never take the country forward.

Addressing a convention of party workers in Delhi, Shah said among all the political parties in the country, only the BJP and the "Communist party" had internal democracy.

To drive home his point, Shah threw a poser to the audience, seeking to know who would occupy the post of the BJP president after him.

As the audience remained quiet, he asked: "Now tell me who will be the next Congress president after Soniaji (Gandhi)?"

Following a pause, when the audience broke into laughter, Shah continued: "That says a lot. If dynasty, instead of merit, is the benchmark in a party, then it can never take the country forward."

Shah said the Congress, formed before the country's Independence, never had any consistent ideology and that whoever wanted freedom joined it.

"That is why Gandhiji wanted it (the Congress) to be disbanded after Independence," he said.

During the course of his speech, he listed the achievements of the BJP government at the Centre, including the decision to demonetise high-value currency notes last year.

"We take decisions that are good for the people. Our aim is not to increase votes, but to develop the country," he said.