The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is gearing up for a generation leap. Senior state leaders in the party are working overtime to secure a place for their sons in the state executive committee which is likely to be announced early next month. Ironically, it was the BJP that first launched a campaign against dynastic rule in politics and targeted the Congress at the national level and the Samajwadi Party at the state level for promoting their own family members
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“We are not promoting our family as such but if a leader’s son is working hard at the grassroots level, he or she cannot be denied a position merely because he or she belongs to a political family. Not a single leader has assumed party leadership on the basis of his family credentials and that speak a lot for the kind of party that the BJP is,” defends a senior state leader whose own son is lobbying for a post in the state executive. According to party sources, prominent among those lobbying for a post in the party’s state executive is Pankaj Singh, son of former BJP president Rajnath Singh. Pankaj Singh has made two futile attempts to gain a lawful entry into the party setup but his attempts were thwarted by a lobby opposed to his father. He had to turn down an Assembly ticket from Varanasi following strong criticism and then turned down a post in the party’s youth wing on the same grounds.
“This time, Rajnath Singh is not the party president and no one can blame him for favouring his son. Pankaj Singh has been working for the party and deserves to be given some responsibility,” says a Rajnath loyalist. Another prominent son is Sharad Tripathi, son of former state party chief Dr Ramapati Ram Tripathi.