Political Diary
New Delhi, 1 February 2022
Invoking
Dynastic Gods
FAMILIAL
BRAT PACK!
By
Poonam I Kaushish
In our electoral dance of democracy this week’s
flavour is pedigree. No, I am not talking about the canine variety, but our
political lineage. Wherein, Parties are busy invoking dynastic Gods to reap
rich political dividends in the coming Assembly polls. A fool-proof way for
India’s polity going to dogs!
If Indian democracy rests on the one-man-one
vote principle, elections are all about one family and as many tickets as you
can wangle norm. Be it BJP, Congress, SP, BSP etc. Saffronites might scoff at Congress’s dynastic politics
breeding “termites” but it too stands “Congressised” with its fair share of aankhon ka tara son-daughter in politics.
The family tussle making waves in UP is Samajwadi
Chief Akhilesh Yadav’s sister-in-law Aparna wife of half brother Prateek
joining BJP, also driven by ambition is a SP miya-BJP biwi jhaghra, BJP beti-SP baap fight, BJP-SP twins and royalty clash in the ensuing Assembly
polls. While many Ministers, MPs and MLAs continuously clamour for their
progenies getting tickets.
In Uttarakhand both BJP-Congress are busy
trying to cash on veteran leaders: parents, father-in-law, husband, brother’s prestige
by giving over 20% Assembly seats to political families. BJP has fielded wives
of four MLA’s, ladlas-ladlis of
another four and brother of one. Congress has pitted former Cabinet Minister
daughter-in-law against another stalwart’s son.
Questionably, what is about dynasty’s that
attract people? One, majority of our electorate is angootha chaap, hence people relate to a neta over Party. Two, what’s wrong in capitalizing on family brand and
providing a ready field to the santaan
to continue the legacy?
Today, BJP boasts of a surfeit. From the
other Gandhis — Maneka-Varun, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s son, deceased
Sahib Singh’s beta alongside
erstwhile Union Minister Yashwant Sinha and Himachal Chief Minister Dhumal ladlas,
late Promod Mahajan and Munde’s daughters and MP strongman Vijayvargiya
son.
The entire Gwalior Scindia family has
smoothly transitioned from monarchy to politics: Congress late Madhav’s son
Jyotrimayditya is Union Civil Aviation Minister in Modi’s Sarkar and bahen-ex
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara’s ladla
MP. In the 2019 Rajasthan, MP and
Chhattisgarh Assembly elections of BJP’s 75 new faces 33 were sons-daughters of
leaders aged over 75 years.
Ironically, even as Rahul harps on
democratising the Congress yet patriarchy and familial ties continue to be the
buzzword. Sister Priyanka is General Secretary and UP-in-charge, ex-Finance
Minister Chidambaram and former Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Haryana Chief
Ministers Kamal Nath, Gogoi and Hooda’s sons and Punjab’s Raja
Amrinder’s Rani MPs, late Rajesh
Pilot son is Rajasthan PCC Chief while Jitendra Prasad putra is Mantri in Yogi’s
UP after defecting. Ex-Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev’s beti is TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP.
Clearly, India has entered the era of
oligarchy. Scandalously, in the present Lok Sabha 57 MPs or 30% belong to
political families. Think, 28 beta-beti
politicians claimed “their birthright of carrying forward the family legacy.”
They hail from J&K to Tamil Nadu, Nagaland to Maharashtra and heartland UP,
MP and Bihar.
Less said the
better of regional Parties. In Bihar Lalu-Rabri family concern Pati, Patni aur Parivar RJD has ladli
Misa in Rajya Sabha, while her sibling Teshaswi is Party Chief, brother Tej
Pratap fights for the family’s political spoils. RLD’s Jayant Chaudhry is late Union
Minister Ajit Singh’s putra, Punjab’s
Akali father-son-daughter-in-law shop of Badals’ TDP’s Naidu’s and TRS Rao’s beta-beti, Mamata and Pawar’s bhatijas,
Mayawati’s bhai and Omar Abdullah, who’s followed father Farooq
and grandfather Sheikh and PDP’s Mehbooba who took-over the baton from daddy
dearest in Kashmir.
Underscoring as never before that not only is
our political system weak, worse it is dominated by microcosmic monarchies
comprising individuals rather than strong political institutions. Also, political legatees are getting younger,
hungrier and meaner. Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha are classic cases where
dynasty rules the roost. You simply cannot aspire to achieve anything
worthwhile in politics if you are not the son or daughter of a prominent
leader.
DMK’s late patriarch Karunanidhi’s son Stalin
rules Tamil Nadu while half-sister is Rajya Sabha MP. In Odisha BJD’s Naveen is strongman Biju’s
Patnaik son. In Haryana, besides Hooda, Rao Birendra Singh and Surjewala have
their sons, erstwhile Chief Minister Devi Lal’s progenies have regional
outfits. Ajay Chautala’s son Dushyant is
State Dy Chief Minister. A never ending
lineage wherein polls and Parties are one.
All parroting the same hackneyed
diatribe. Only our dynasty can provide a
Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Sprinkled
liberally with loads of balidaan and desh bhakti. Hoping that a billion plus vassals will be
mesmerized by dynastic Gods to shower blessing.
What is material is not whether the candidates are deserving but that they
are “made deserving”, by virtue of their hereditary factor.
Undeniably, we are still unabashedly feudal
in our outlook and jo hukum thought
process, notwithstanding that dynasty is an antithesis to democracy and
electoral politics. Most elected leaders prefer to function in the style of old
feudal lords. Party tickets are
distributed not on the basis of merit, but feudal laws and connections. If a Minister dies, give his place to the
wife, son or daughter.
This is today’s political culture: Of a shameless
feudalistic India. Asserted a senior family patriarch: “Is it not normal for
the offspring of mice to dig burrows? Children of political parents will know
politics best.” Perhaps the best way to explain a rat race!
Leading to a
situation where most Parties are subservient to one supreme leader. He or she
can therefore wilfully impose their offspring on the Party. All one has to
possess is a big and famous name, no prior experience in governance and one can
aspire to be the one calling the shots. Constituencies are handed over as a jagir is handed over to the heirs.
Consequently, in a milieu where politics has
transcended to business, a political family like a business house is busy
leveraging its assets. Under the misconception it owns a constituency and has
the right to pass it on to whomever it pleases, thereby reducing ‘worthy
candidates’ into a farce. It’s all about bhaichara.
Sadly, deserving candidates and Party workers
are dumped as principles are unceremoniously buried thereby, creating
confusion, causing rifts and fist flights.
Indeed, all Parties have their share of black eyes. Resultant in sons,
daughters and sons-in-law becoming an integral part of statecraft --- leading
to new rules, guidelines and extra-Constitutional centres of power. Bringing
matters to such a pass that a neta’s
clout is gauged by who and how many family members he has got accommodated as
Party candidates.
What next? For
starters Parties need to realize that "dynasty" is a sword that cuts
both ways. The feudal factor is proving to be more of a liability than an
asset. Plainly, as the aam janata’s
awareness of their rights increases, it would be politically
prudent to hoot for democracy over dynasty.
It needs to
be remembered that the best political systems are based on holding free, fair and regular Party elections. In the long
run, short-term hereditary gains would sound the death-knell of the Indian
polity. The time has come to uphold true
democracy. Or else continue to wallow in the political cesspool which hails the
rising family ---- the
new rajas and ranis and my feudal India. ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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