Rajasthan Polls | Your Last Name Can Take You So Far: Sachin Pilot

“One’s last name can make some difference, but it is not pivotal to their political future,” said Sachin Pilot.

Sachin Pilot says dynasty politics is not just in the Congress.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Speaking exclusively to BloombergQuint’s Tamanna Imamdar, Rajasthan Congress President Sachin Pilot said someone’s last name can make some difference, but it is not pivotal to anyone’s political future.

How big do you think is the dynasty issue because this is something that the PM keeps talking about, the BJP president keeps talking about it in every platform. And this is not just about Gandhi, it is a question for you as well?

Why don’t you ask the same question to Vasundhara ji? I am asking that the dynasty question comes from the Congress party. The so-called party with a difference, Vasundhara ji’s mother was a politician, she is a politician, her sisters are politicians, her sons are MP. So when it comes to the BJP, the CM of Chhattisgarh, his son is MP. The CM’s wife is an MLA. When you talk about family and dynasty politics, somehow, they think it is Congress party. If someone is born into a political family that can’t be his or her qualification, but it can’t be (grounds for) his/her disqualification. People are working hard, making a mark for themselves and voters are electing you, you should respect that collective wisdom. We should be fair in saying that the BJP has no leg to stand on when it comes to families being in politics. I can name 100 people in the BJP who are either uncles, aunts, daughters, son in laws or grandchildren of some other leaders. And the Congress party is much older party. They have a tradition of people who want to contribute to society and want to join politics, I see nothing wrong. If they are undeserving, they will get booted out. Your last name will only take you so far and so far and further. Whose nephew you are and whose grandchild you make some difference but not pivotal to anyone’s political future.

Do you think it is an issue with young aspirational Indian who doesn’t want to be kept out of an opportunity because they don’t have the right last name?

The number of people who are young, who have taken leadership challenges in municipal, corporation and Vidhan Sabha, in Parliament level, a large majority of people are those young people who are educated and whose family members are not in politics but the once who are talked about often gets repeated. So one feel that every single person who is young is either a dynast or from a family of politicians that is not true.