Face-Off | When Supriya Sule Tore Into Tejasvi Surya, Gracefully

The BJP MP's jibe on dynasty politics and state of India's economy before 2014 did not go down well with Sule.

Tejasvi Surya-Supriya Sule face-off

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

"From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, before the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country's states were majorly controlled by a few political families and dynasty-based political parties."

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya's remarks on dynasty politics and India's economy, while taking a dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's 'two Indias' jibe, in Lok Sabha, did not go down well with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule.

Hours after Surya said that the 'two Indias' that Gandhi was referring to are – the one under the dynasts and the one after Narendra Modi came to power – Sule schooled him gracefully.

"Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is also a minister, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan – all my very good friends. I am very proud of them. The one thing I have in common with them – we were all born in political families. And I am not ashamed of being born in a political family."

Supriya Sule

On Dynasty Politics

During the course of his speech, highlighting the two Indias before and after Prime Minister Modi, Surya trained guns at political families and dynasty-based parties. "I have been elected by the people of India with as much rights as any dynast sitting at this hall," he said in Lok Sabha.

"The Congress party and its dynasty leaders are confusing their political unemployment as the unemployment of the country. Those who are hardworking, talented, meritorious, young people coming from modest backgrounds have enough number of opportunities. If there is one person who is unemployed in this country, it is the prince of the Congress party, the dynast of the Congress party."

Tejasvi Surya, BJP MP

Countering Tejasvi's attack on dynasty politics, Sule reminded him that his own uncle Ravi Subramanya is an MLA from Karnataka. She said she is very proud of being born in a political family and not ashamed of who her parents are. And then went on to list the dynasts in National Democratic Alliance.

"An honourable member of this house mentioned dynasty politics. I would like to ask a small question: who is Ravi Subramanya? Pritam Munde, Poonam Mahajan, Hina Gavit, Raksha Khadse, Sujay Vikhe-Patil. Who are Jyotiraditya Scindia – who is also a minister – Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan? The one thing I have in common with them – we are all born into political families."

Supriya Sule, NCP MP

On Entrepreneurship

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Bangalore South accused the Congress of shackling India's economy before Modi came to power in 2014. "The reason why dynastic politics preferred socialism and kept a closed economy was because they did not want challengers to come and challenge their throne," he said in the Lok Sabha, on 9 February.

"India may have become independent in 1947 but the country achieved economic independence only in 2014 after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. Before Modi, there were no startup millionaires. Today the youth are listening to the interviews of Kunal Shah – founder of CRED, Ritesh Agarwal – founder of OYO Rooms, Deepinder Goyal – CEO of Zomato."

Tejasvi Surya, BJP MP

In a sharp counter to Surya's claims, Sule listed out the big business houses that built their enterprises from scratch before the arrival of the Modi government. "He (Surya) said that no business was created before the Modiji' came to power. Wipro and Infosys are the big companies in Bangalore (where Surya is an elected MP)."

"Wipro, Infosys, Kirloskar, Cipla, Ambani, Bajaj, Infosys, Kalyani, Walchand, Firodiaz, Poonawala, Dhoot – they are all major contributors. They started from scratch, created wealth, created jobs. Don't underestimate their contribution. Don't run down these families."

Supriya Sule, NCP MP