Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cribs about the lack of internal democracy in Congress, the saffron party itself has had a notorious track record when it comes to choosing its head.

For starters, Congress’ presidential election process is monitored by the Election Commission of India (EC), lending it transparency and credibility irrespective of what the critics say.

BJP President Amit Shah, on the other hand, has had a frosty relationship with the EC all along. In April 2014, a few months before being sworn-in as BJP’s president, Shah was banned by the EC from conducting rallies owing to inflammatory remarks he had been making against a religious community.

Moreover, Shah was also elected unopposed as BJP’s President for his inaugural term in July 2014, the same way that Rahul Gandhi is likely to be elected unopposed.

Talking of dynasts wihin th BJP, the party has an ever-growing list of second generation political leaders with strong family connections to the saffron party.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh, Late Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja Munde, Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha and the son of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhoomal Anurag Thakur are a just a few among BJP’s dynasts.

In fact, dynasty seems to play a crucial role in Indian politics in general. Besides the BJP, parties such as Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) among others have just been controlled by members of the same family all along their existence.

Blaming Rahul Gandhi and Congress for propagating dynasty in Indian politics, therefore, reflects the hypocrisy of the BJP.

Below are some facts that set the record straight on dynastic nature of Indian politics: