Congress in many ways a family-run party, says Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor. Pic/Twitter@ShashiTharoor

Reacting to a question at an event in Thiruvananthapuram on not being a Prime Ministerial candidate from party, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that Rahul Gandhi could become Prime Minister since Congress is in many ways is a 'family-run' party, reported news agency ANI.

Inaugurating the new office of a US-based Silicon Valley company at Technopark Phase 3 in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Shashi Tharoor said that either Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge or Rahul Gandhi could become PM from the Congress, reported ANI.

"My guess is from the Congress party either Mr Kharge who will then be the first Dalit Prime Minister of India or Rahul Gandhi since in many ways it is a 'family-run' party. But at the same time, the merit of the parliamentary system is the Prime Minister is the first among equals and other ministers also have great responsibility for their work so whatever responsibility is assigned to me, I am confident I can do work," he said.

The remark comes even as the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi made an effort to distance himself from dynastic politics when the question was posed to him at a news conference in Aizawl, Mizoram today.

"What is exactly the son of Amit Shah doing? What does Rajnath Singh's son do? last I heard, Amit Shah's son is running Indian cricket. Many of their (BJP) children like Anurag Thakur, are dynasties," Rahul Gandhi said in an effort to put the ball back in the BJP court, reported ANI.

Earlier, hitting out at both Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress in Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1 said that the "two family-run parties" known for corruption and commission have halted the progress of the poll-bound state.

"Both of these parties have the same formula. The party is of the family, by the family and for the family... These people are turning democracy into a family dynasty. Their party is run like a private limited company. The president, CEO, director, treasurer, general manager, chief manager, and manager all are of the same family," the Prime Minister had said.

Meanwhile at his address to young professionals, Tharoor while explaining the system of electing representatives said that a candidate's individual merit was not the singular reason to choose him to contest, reported ANI.

"Our system is very different from the American system. The parliamentary system means the party decides who to put forward in these situations. Even whom to give tickets is given by the party unlike in America where voters decide through a primaries system," said Tharoor.

"It's not possible to have an Obama type career in India. We are a vast country, we have 543 parliamentary seats and it is not the individual merit of one person that matters," he added, reported ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)