Indian Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Tamil Nadu on the 21st to lay the foundation stone for various development projects, including the Metro Rail. Speaking at the state function, Amit Shah said, “Some parties are conducting family politics in Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country. People from other states have learned the right lesson against the family and heir politics run by the parties there. A similar lesson will be taught in Tamil Nadu. Succession politics will end with the support of the BJP people. ”
While many have criticized the Home Minister for turning the state event into a political event through his speech, it is through this post that one can know whether the BJP really has successor politics or not. For example we have mentioned that the heirs of some important leaders contested the post and election in which they were members.
| Rajnath Singh Minister of Defence |
Pankaj Singh (son) Vice President, BJP, Uttar Pradesh MLA – Noida. |
| Chandrakanta Goyal (mother) member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Matunga constituency three times, winning in 1990, 1995, and 1999 |
Piyush Goyal (son)
Minister of Railways Minister of Commerce and Industry |
| Ved Prakash Goyal (father) Union Minister of shipping from 2001 to 2003. | |
| Debendra Pradhan Indian politician and the Union Minister of shipping – 2001 to 2003 |
Dharmendra Pradhan (son) Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of Steel |
| Gangadhar Fadnavis served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from Nagpur |
Devendra Fadnavis (son) Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Vasundhara Raje National Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party |
Dushyant Singh (son) four time member of the Lok Sabha of India |
| Raman Singh former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh |
Abhishek Singh (son) member of the 16th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament |
| B. S. Yediyurappa Chief Minister of Karnataka |
B. Y. Raghavendra (son) member of the 16th Lok Sabha |
| Gopinath Munde politician from the state of Maharashtra |
Pankaja Munde (daughter) politician from the state of Maharashtra |
| Pandurang Pundalik Fundkar leader of opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council |
Akash Pandurang Fundkar (son) member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Raosaheb Danve Minister of State Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution |
Santosh Danve (son) politician from the state of Maharashtra |
| Anil Shirole represented Pune constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019 |
Siddharth Shirole (son) Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Datta Meghe politician and currently a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party |
Sameer Meghe (son) member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Rupatai Patil Nilangekar member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political party |
Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar(son) Member of 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Ramsheth Thakur member of the Peasants and Workers Party of India |
Prashant Thakur (son) 2014 Maharashtra Elections as a candidate |
| Balasaheb Vikhe Patil member of the 14th Lok Sabha |
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (son) politician and a member of Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Narayan Rane former Chief Minister of Maharashtra |
Nitesh Narayan Rane (son) politician and a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
| Sunil Rane member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
Datta Rane (son) former cabinet minister in Government of Maharashtra |
Here we have mentioned only for example some of the ministers, leaders and their successors of the BJP regarding the party post. The BJP, which has repeatedly called for an end to family and succession politics from the Nehru family, has appointed Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun Gandhi from the Nehru family. The BJP has made them ministers and given positions to their heirs, claiming that the country should be recovered from a particular family.
Succession politics is not only rooted in the BJP, but is essentially rooted in most national parties like the Congress and state parties like the DMK, AIADMK, BJP and DMDK. Although the BJP presents itself as a party without successor politics, there is ample evidence in contemporary politics that this is not true.
Update
Amit Shah’s speech against hereditary politics in 2020 and the post about heirs of BJP leaders holding party positions is spreading again on social media. We have quoted a few examples of heirs of the BJP leaders earlier.
Rajasthan’s Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s son Dushyant Singh is MP now. Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s mother Vijaya Raje Scindia belongs to Jana Sangh and is one of the members who built BJP.
Jayant Sinha, son of Yashwant Sinha, who was the External Affairs and Finance Minister in the BJP regime, is an MP now. He was also an associate Minister in the BJP cabinet. It is to be noted that his father Yashwant Sinha left the BJP and joined the Trinamool Congress party.
Poonam Mahajan, daughter of Pramod Mahajan, who was a Minister during the Vajpayee regime, is an MP now. Anurag Thakur, son of Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, is the Sports Minister now.
Mahant Avaidyanath, a mentor to the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, is a former MP and MLA and his close relative.
Vijay Goel, son of Charti Lal Goel, who was the Speaker of the Delhi assembly, was a member of the BJP cabinet during 2017-2019.
Ajay Kumar Malhotra, son of Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who held MP position 5 times and MLA position twice, contested the 2013 parliamentary elections. Former PM Vajpayee’s son-in-law, Anoop Mishra was an MP and MLA. Akash, son of Kailash Vijayvargiya, Former Mayor, Indore, is an MLA now.
Links:
BJP has 16 dynast MLAs in Maharashtra — highest among all parties
https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/indian-parliament/maneka-sanjay-gandhi
http://164.100.47.194/Loksabha/Members/MemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=4277
