Are the new states,Telangana and AP opening the lid on dynasty politics?

Dynasty politics in India

The recent swearing-in ceremony of Chandra Babu Naidu (CBN), whom I admire for his prowess as an able administrator and a political leader, as the first CM of residual AP left me with more thoughts on the path of democracy than the prospects of AP’s growth under the leadership of the new CM. Given his vast experience as CM of united AP, we can be sure that he will take divided AP to the next level. The bigger question would be, is he prone to encouraging dynasty politics on the lines of Telangana CM K Chandra Sekhar Rao? 

We have witnessed the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as PM on 26^th May in which none of his family members were present. In contrast to this was the swearing-in of Chandra Babu Naidu on 8^th June as well as that of K Chandra Sekhar Rao (KCR) on 2^nd June when the latter took oath as the first CM of the newly formed 29^th state Telangana. The son and nephew of KCR were also sworn-in as Ministers in his cabinet. Luckily CBN did not give such a scope in his cabinet as of now. There was undue attention paid by a section of the media and some party functionaries on family members of each of the new CMs for ‘obvious’ reasons during the ceremonies.

Our constitution has given way to democracy by throwing out kings long ago. But it appears that it may take many more years to completely get rid of the dynasty mindset that India continues to live in.

Be it Congress, BJP at an all India level or DMK, YSR Congress (offshoot of dissent in Congress), TDP, SP, Shiv Sena, NC, RJD, etc., at a regional level, all parties involve their families in politics and government. Whether it is at the national level or state level in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, J&K and Odisha the list of parties practicing dynasty politics is quite obvious.

While in a private enterprise, the company reins can be freely handed over to the heirs, it cannot be so in politics as political parties, positions and governments are not private property to be treated as per the whims and fancies of some leaders to pass on to their kith and kin. Is a civil servant’s son or daughter given a direct entry without him/her taking the Civil Services Exams and qualifying as per process? The answer is an emphatic no. Same is the case with Defence Services or any other government service. Then why does the opposite happen in politics?

What different are the current day politics and governance from the days of kings and emperors when the family members are given so much importance within a so-called ‘democratic’ political party? Whatever position a person holds, nobody can rule out his ‘love’ for ‘family’ and what the family member recommends. This leads to undue importance being given by some sycophantic party leaders to the family members to influence their leader for some ‘gains’. Such sycophancy leads to formation of family coterie thereby diluting the very essence of democracy because the ‘family’ member becomes the center of attention. Other promising leaders within the party who cannot bow to the ‘family’ or be subservient will never get an opportunity to grow and serve the people for whom the party existed in the first place.

The country’s progress has been faster when a grass root leader was at the helm of affairs, like in the case of P.V.Narasimha Rao or A.B.Vajpayee or during the tenure of the first generation leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru. Some states too have progressed under the first or second generation leadership like in the case of AP under CBN, though in the first instance he came to power under ‘abnormal circumstances’. The present PM Narendra Modi rose from the bottom of the pyramid. That is the kind of leaders that India needs to see emerging, not hereditary leaders who come to positions of power through dynasty.

The trend of dynasty politics is continuing in India long after the kings are gone in a different format. Though the recent elections have put an end to one dynasty (at least for the time being) at the Centre, the dynastic succession seems to be erupting in the new states Telengana and AP.

As a nation that has seen the ill-effects of dynasty politics in the last 67 years, it is important that India moves away from it in a conscious manner. The present crop of leaders on their part should discourage their family members from indulging in party affairs or governance. Most developed countries do not have dynastic rulers. The media, voters and public in general too should tread cautiously with parties that follow dynastic politics as they are a bane for the nation and hamper the overall progress; hence it is better to discard them. Only when the political parties cease to be XXXXX Political Party Sons/Family Unlimited can we say that real democracy has set in.