BENGALURU, 24 FEB

Member of Parliament from Bangalore South Tejasvi Surya has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only waged a war against dynastic politics but has also democratised the country's economic space in the last ten years.

Calling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a "dynast", the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha President said he is something today, only because he has inherited his parents and family's monetary as well as political legacy. "A dynast like Rahul Gandhi can only view the country's economy from the lens of entitlement, from the lens of dynasty," Surya said.

 He was responding to a question on the Congress' narrative that the Modi government is in the hands of a few crony capitalists. Pointing out that today one can find first-generation billionaires in India who do not inherit a business legacy, he said, "But for Rahul Gandhi, who is something today only because he has inherited his parents and family's monetary as well as political legacy, he is not ready to acknowledge and recognise the democratisation of the country's economy."

 The first-generation millionaires and billionaires coming up in India are higher than at any time in the past seventy years, Surya said as he questioned "How can you make this absurd allegation that this country and the country's government is supporting one or two-generational entrepreneurs?"

 Highlighting that the Prime Minister has on multiple occasions made it clear that the third term of the Modi government is the most important so far as laying the foundation for a "Viksit Bharat" is concerned, the MP said the next five years are going to be a multi-dimensional transformation at a much faster pace and a more accelerated pace than what we have seen the last five years of the Prime Minister.

 Do not be surprised if Karnataka gives a clean sweep to the BJP, to Narendra Modi in the General Elections, Surya said, as he accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the State of corruption and being bankrupt.

 Responding to a question on the Karnataka government's bill that sought to collect funds from temples with over Rs 10 lakh annual income, Tejasvi asked why should the government, which claims to be secular, be in the business of running temples for a long time? —PTI