Rishi Kapoor hits out at Rahul Gandhi over remarks on dynastic politics in India
A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi cited the examples of political leaders, Bollywood celebrities and business tycoons while speaking on dynastic politics, veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor lashed out at Gandhi asking him to earn respect through hard work. Criticizing Rahul Gandhi’s claim that several sectors in the country runs on mere nepotism, Rishi Kapoor, over a series of tweets, highlighted the contribution of the Kapoors in Indian cinema and how their four generations survived in the industry, purely on merit, for 90 years.
“Rahul Gandhi. In the 106 years of Indian cinema of India, Kapoor’s contribution is 90 years. And each generation is chosen by the public on merit. By God’s grace, we are in 4 generations. Prithviraj Kapoor.Raj Kapoor.Randhir Kapoor.Ranbir Kapoor-Males.Besides all others. You see otherwise. So don’t bullshit people on “Dynasty” You have to earn people’s respect and love through hard work not zabardasti and gundagardi,” tweeted Rishi Kapoor.
Hours after Kapoor’s strong statements against Gandhi, a twitter user with the name Manish Sirsiwal reacted to the actor’s tweets, saying, “I can act better than you Mr Chintu, but I don’t have a father like legendary actor RK grandfather like Prithviraj Kapoor saheb.”
However, in yet another arrogant reply Rishi Kapoor shot back, saying, “I am absolutely sure you can Manish. Then it’s your genetic fault you don’t have what I have!”
Speaking on dynastic politics during the question-answer session, at the University of California, Berkeley, Rahul Gandhi said that most of the country runs in a similar manner. Citing the examples of Akhilesh Yadav (son of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav), MK Stalin (son of former Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi), Anurag Thakur (son of former Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal), Abhishek Bachchan (son of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan) and others, Rahul Gandhi stated that it’s not just him to be targeted at. Gandhi is the fifth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi family in politics, after his father Rajiv Gandhi, grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru. Speaking on ‘India at 70: Reflections on the Path Forward’, while Gandhi spoke about contemporary India, he further criticized the ruling Narendra Modi government over the newly introduced economic reforms and the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul Gandhi’s speech has created much outrage within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the saffron party leaders hitting out at the Congress VP for ‘belittling the PM’ on an international platform and for stating that the whole country runs on dynastic policy. Further citing that the current President, Vice-President and PM of the country aren’t from a political background, Union Minister Smriti Irani termed Rahul Gandhi as a ‘failed dynast’.