“Nehru-Gandhi family cemented that political leadership can be a birthright”: Shashi Tharoor says dynastic politics threat to Indian democracy

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has criticised “dynastic” politics in India, terming it a “grave threat” to democracy, and said it is “high time” the nation moves towards “meritocracy”.

In an article titled ‘Indian Politics Are a Family Business’ on Project Syndicate portal, Tharoor termed “dynastic politics, a threat to Indian democracy”, and argued that India must move to “merit-based leadership”, a view that may be seen as a swipe at the Congress high command and its INDIA bloc allies like Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and Shiv Sena (UBT).

In the NDA, Tharoor said that the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party, Ram Vilas Paswan, was succeeded by his son, Chirag Paswan.

With just two days left for the Bihar assembly polls, Tharoor wrote that, from India’s first Prime Minister