As Priyanka Gandhi made her debut in the Lok Sabha in this winter session of Parliament, the BJP came at her with a familiar refrain: an attack on the Congress first family and dynasty.
Priyanka’s huge win in the constituency of Wayanad is significant not just for her landslide victory but also the fact that it marks the first time all three Gandhis are members of Parliament- Sonia Gandhi and her two children. This has sharpened the BJP’s attack even more but frankly, the BJP’s hypocrisy on dynasty is now painfully visible and does not resonate.
For over a decade, BJP leadership have made dynasty a central theme of their election campaigns. Except that the BJP itself has been giving tickets to dynasts including as recently as the Jharkhand and Maharashtra polls.
And it has not shied away from taking in dynasts from the Congress and making them their own. Look at Jyotiraditya Scindia or Jiten Prasada, both union ministers now and both from prominent political families.
Dynasts in the fray
Former Foreign Minister the late Sushma Swaraj’s daughter is now an MP from Delhi. Anurag Thakur, who has been a minister, also belongs to a political family. Important allies of the BJP are also dynasts such as Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra or Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD in UP.
In the Haryana elections held in October, one study shows that over 21 per cent of BJP candidates were dynasts. In Maharastra and Jharkhand too, all political parties, including the BJP, had a number of dynasts in the fray. In short- when the dynasts belong to the opposition, they are bad. But when they join the BJP, all is forgiven.
The fact is, dynasty is very much a part of Indian politics and barring the Left parties, every other political party faces the same. Whether it’s Akhilesh Yadav in UP or Lalu Yadav in Bihar. Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek is the de facto number 2 of her party.
In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister MK Stalin is going to pass the baton to his son Udhayanidhi who is the deputy Chief Minister. Political families are often the nucleus around which parties are built. And while in an ideal world, candidates should be chosen to contest elections purely on merit and ability, that is far from the reality on the ground.
Why dynasty is thriving
Political families have roots in their constituencies, they have connections and often they have money. It is usually easier to give a ticket to someone’s wife or nephew than it is to get a rank outsider, which is a huge risk. Ultimately though, it is for voters to decide.
Dynasts have also faced defeat at the hands of voters when they haven’t done enough. Rahul Gandhi faced the anger of voters in Amethi in 2019 when Smirti Irani defeated him. Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav did well in the Lok Sabha polls but very badly where it mattered more - the state elections.
So today when Priyanka is elected in Wayanad, it is because voters chose her. That is how democracy works. As a feisty politician and articulate campaigner, it will be interesting to watch Priyanka Gandhi in action in parliament.
She has taken the fight to the BJP on the electoral battlefield, so how she handles herself as an MP will be keenly watched. The bottom line- we have dynasties across different fields. Politics, business, sports, cinema. In politics, people will be the ultimate judges.
Dynasty is not going anywhere in Indian politics. In fact, it is only thriving.
