Panaji, May 5 (IANS) Although Congress leader A.K. Antony’s report on the party’s rout in Goa has blamed nepotism, two other members of his panel had defended it while campaigning.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and cabinet minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, members of the Antony-led “post mortem” committee, had said it was fine to give ticket to politicians’ family members.
They had wholeheartedly supported the move to give 12 of the 33 tickets to kin of Congress legislators.
“What is wrong with giving tickets to family? They are the people’s choices,” Shinde had said in February.
Dixit went a step further, saying if the policy of giving ticket to family members of legislators succeeded in Goa, she might adopt the same policy in Delhi.
“Depends… depends if there are applications like that… It just so happens that that is not so in Delhi, it may happen, but I can’t say,” she had said Feb 24.
“If doctors’ children become doctors, lawyers’ children become lawyers, teachers’ children become teachers, why should not politicians’ children take up politics,” Dixit had said.
A senior Congress leader who did not want to be named said that instead of crying over spilt milk, Goa’s leaders should have put their foot down on the party high command’s lopsided ticket allotment.
“The same people who are calling ‘family raj’ as a reason behind the party’s loss never raised the red flag earlier,” the leader said.
After the March election, Congress’ numbers in the assembly fell to nine from 21 — its worst defeat in 20 years.
