Shehzad Poonawalla blames 'dynasty politics' for Congress' loss in polls

In the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) lead in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls, Maharashtra Congress Secretary Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday claimed that the losses incurred on the Congress party are due to their "dynasty politics".

"The trends of polls show that the people do not want to hold the hands of the dynasty. It is a fact that the present UP government has not been doing too well. However, parties that do not accept dynasty as their principle are doing better than the rest. The loss in elections is due to dynastic politics," Shehzad told ANI.

Continuing his criticism of the grand old party, Poonawalla alleged that the organisation did not value merit as much as family relations or a "sycophant of the dynasty." He also claimed that if the Congress got rid of dynasty politics, there would be a 30 percent surge in the number of seats won by them.

Poonawalla also opined that rather than blaming any other factors, the Congress must accept defeat on grounds of their leadership not being strong enough.

"The Congress leadership should not blame EVM or any other factor, but review their leadership, as this is what victory or defeat should be based on. Congress minus dynasty will get 30 percent more votes. Even in the upcoming polls in Gujarat, Congress will get 150 seats if they end dynasty politics." he said.

Earlier this week, Poonawalla had claimed that the poll process to choose the Congress president was stacked in Rahul's favour just because he belongs to the Gandhi family.

"Raising an issue nobody in my party - the Congress will have guts to raise- my conscience will not allow me to stay quiet anymore on Dynasty/ sycophancy," he tweeted.

Poonawalla had also told the media earlier that he would want to contest the party president election if it was conducted in a genuine manner.

However, he has been receiving flak from his party members, including accusations of him not being a Congressman.

Responding to the same, he categorically stated that he was a "Congressman for life," and alleged that such comments were a result of the party fearing Rahul Gandhi's defeat, "even in a rigged election.