Shashi Tharoor: Politics in India remains a family business
NEW DELHI, NOV 3 : The influence of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has cemented the idea that political ladership can be a birthright, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said.
“For decades, one family has towered over Indian politics. The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty – including independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and current opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – is bound up with the history of India’s struggle for freedom. But it has also cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright. This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every party, in every region, and at every level,” the Congress MP said.
Tharoor pointed out that dynastic succession is not limited to the Congress. In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray passed leadership to his son Uddhav, with his grandson Aditya waiting in line. In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was succeeded by his son Akhilesh Yadav, now an MP and party president. Similarly, Ram Vilas Paswan of Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party was succeeded by his son Chirag Paswan.
Beyond the heartland, dynastic politics persists. Jammu and Kashmir has been led by three generations of Abdullahs, with the Mufti family dominating the opposition. In Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal passed from Parkash Singh Badal to his son Sukhbir. In Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi sees a succession battle between the founder K. Chandrasekhara Rao’s children. In Tamil Nadu, the late M. Karunanidhi’s family continues to control the DMK, with son M.K. Stalin as Chief Minister and his grandson anointed as heir.
Writing for Project Syndicate in an article titled “Indian Politics Are a Family Business,” Tharoor observed that dynastic politics is not confined to a few prominent families. Rather, it is woven deeply into Indian governance, from village councils to the highest levels of parliament.
He goes on to note that dynastic politics pose a grave threat to Indian democracy. When political power is determined by lineage, rather than ability, commitment, or grassroots engagement, the quality of governance suffers. He concluded saying that it is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy.
-PTI
