Senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Bhubaneswar on Sunday that voters had rejected dynastic politics in the general election, but the Congress had failed to learn from this and still wanted Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi at its helm.

Attack on the Congress

Chouhan, a BJP vice-president and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, said BJP leaders rise naturally through the ranks while the Congress cannot look beyond one family. He told reporters it was surprising that the Congress Working Committee still wanted the two Gandhis to lead.

On Saturday, the CWC had passed a resolution naming Sonia Gandhi interim president until the AICC elects a regular chief.

Chouhan said parties built on dynasty, family and caste had been defeated across the country, including in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and that voters in West Bengal had rejected appeasement politics. He said the Congress appeared short of capable leaders and could not be saved unless it chose a leader democratically.

He called Rahul Gandhi “ranchod”, meaning one who flees the battlefield, and said he had left the party in despair after the Lok Sabha defeat. Rahul Gandhi had quit as party president on May 25.

Other claims

• He alleged the Congress does not remember former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao because he was not from the Gandhi family.
• He claimed that while Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi controlled everything.
• He said Nehru’s introduction of Article 370 was a “historical blunder” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had now corrected.
• He said the Modi government had also legislated against triple talaq, which the Congress had not acted on while in power.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party and political leaders.

Originally published on 12 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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