Future Congress President May Be From Outside Gandhi Parivar: Sonia Gandhi

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Friday hinted dynastic politics in the main opposition party may end with the appointment of party president from outside the Gandhi-Nehru family in future. 

"Why not? In future there may well be," the former Congress President said when asked if the 132-year-old party would ever be headed by a leader from outside the Gandhi dynasty, reported news agency IANS.

Gandhi said electing leaders in the Congress party has always been a democratic process, adding that she chose Manmohan Singh as the prime minister in 2004 as she was aware of her limitations and knew that he was a better candidate. 

Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi was recently made the 49th president of the party, 7th from the Gandhi family, amid allegations that the party was playing dynastic politics. 

BJP President Amit Shah, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress for Gandhi's elevation to the post. 

Party chief Rahul Gandhi, then a nominee for the president post, in a lecture at University of California at Berkeley, defended dynasty politics in India, saying the entire nation is running on it and hence, one should not go only after the Congress party. 

"Most of the country runs like this. Akhilesh Yadav is a dynast. Stalin is a dynast. Dhumal's son a dynast. Even Abhishek Bachchan is a dynast. Also Mr. Ambani. That's how India runs. Don't go after me," he said. Rahul even said that there are many people in the party, who are not a part of the dynasty politics.

"The real question is if a person is capable. Is the person sensitive?" he had said. 

The BJP slammed Gandhi for his remarks, saying dynasty politics is a trait only of the Congress party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “One family either directly or indirectly ruled the country for 48 years... for about 17 years our first Prime Minister ruled, and after that his daughter held the reigns for 14 years and following that her son was at the helm for five years,”