'Direct Attack On India's Nepo Kids…': BJP Points To Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav After Tharoor Article

Last Updated:November 03, 2025, 17:06 IST

The article comes days ahead of the first phase voting for the Bihar polls, in which RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is running as the CM candidate of the opposition INDIA bloc

The BJP called Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (R) and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav (L) “India's nepo kid and chota nepo kid", respectively. (Image: AICC/PTI/File)

The BJP was quick to react to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s article on nepotism and dynastic politics, saying it was a “direct attack" on “India’s nepo kid Rahul & chota nepo kid Tejashwi Yadav".

Shashi Tharoor made headlines with his article, ‘Indian politics are a family business’, published on Project Syndicate. 

This comes days ahead of the first phase voting for the Bihar assembly elections on November 6, in which Tejashwi Yadav is running as the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition INDIA bloc. Apart from the leader of the RJD in the Mahagathbandhan, he is the son and political heir of two former chief ministers – Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.

The BJP used Tharoor’s article to further its “namdaar" attack on the Congress – one which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using to campaign against the opposition in Bihar – and said it is the reason why the grand old party “hate kaamdaar chaiwala PM Modi".

“Very insightful piece written by Dr Shashi Tharoor on how Indian Politics have become a family business – he has launched a direct attack on India’s Nepo kid Rahul & Chota nepo kid Tejaswi Yadav !" said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on X.

Shehzad Poonawalla highlighted a portion of the article, which talked about how for decades, one family has towered over Indian politics – the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty – including independent India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, PMs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and current opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Tharoor has written that this is “bound up with the history of India’s struggle for freedom. But it has also cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright. This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every party, in every region, and at every level".

Poonawalla wondered what “repercussions" Tharoor will have to face for his “candid" views and said: “This is why Naamdars of Congress hate Kaamdar Chaiwala PM Modi. Wonder what repercussions will follow against Dr Tharoor for speaking so candidly. Dr Tharoor was already attacked for calling out Nepo kid Rahul Gandhi on Op Sindoor ‘surrender narrative’."

In another post on X, he called Tharoor “khatron ke khiladi" and said he was praying for him as the “first family is very vengeful".

“Dr Tharoor has become Khatron ke Khiladi He has directly called out Nepo Kids or Nawabs of Nepotism Sir when i called out Nepo Naamdar Rahul Gandhi in 2017 – you know what happened to me Sir praying for you… First family is very vengeful," he wrote.

While the Congress is yet to react, it points to a dissonance within the internal day-to-day of the party. Tharoor has recently been critical of the high command, repeatedly toeing the party line on issues of foreign policy and national security – from India’s delegation diplomacy to ‘Operation Sindoor’.    

Through his latest article, too, he may rankle the top leadership in Delhi but it can also be damaging to the party’s prospects in Bihar, where the BJP has constantly attacked the opposition on the issue of “jungle raj" under the Lalu Prasad regime and the dangers of one family taking over the reins of the state.

WHAT DID THAROOR SAY?

Tharoor, in his article, called dynastic politics a “serious threat to Indian democracy" and said it has made people believe that “political leadership can be inherited".

Apart from the BJD in Odisha, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, he has named regional parties that are in power like the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal – incidentally both these states are going to polls next year.

He said it is time for India to choose merit over dynasty, which would need big reforms like term limits, real internal party elections, and educating voters to pick leaders based on merit. He argued that as long as politics stays a “family business", true democracy cannot be achieved.

The Congress MP further pointed out that candidates from political families are “often out of touch with regular people’s problems and may not respond well to their needs, yet they might not be held accountable for poor performance". He compared this trend to other countries in the region, like the Bhuttos and Sharifs in Pakistan, the Sheikh and Zia families in Bangladesh, and the Bandaranaikes and Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka, but saying feels “especially out of place in India’s lively democracy".

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