The fate of two fathers in Himachal Pradesh is a cautionary tale for state-level dynasties in both the national parties. Virbhadra Singh of the Congress insisted on a ticket for his son Vikramaditya, causing deep resentment among those who aspired to succeed the octogenarian as chief minister. While father and son won their seats, the Congress lost the hill state.
The BJP made Prem Kumar Dhumal (his son Anurag Thakur is a member of the Lok Sabha) its chief minister candidate. But powerful elements in the party wanted to put a brake on the Dhumal dynasty. The BJP won the state, but Dhumal himself bit the dust. On a minor scale, two Congress candidates, who were sons of former chief ministers, were defeated in Gujarat.
Earlier this year, Amarinder Singh, a royal whose wife and son had contested elections before, declared in Punjab that he did not want tickets for his family members. He was fighting chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, whose son Sukhbir was deputy chief minister, and daughter-in-law, a cabinet minister in the Modi government. Singh won elections riding on the public anger at Shiromani Akali Dal and its Badal dynasty, and his campaign was not sabotaged by rivals within the Congress.
But Tarun Gogoi, whose promotion of his son Gaurav led to major desertions in the Congress, lost Assam after having ruled it for three terms. Another attempt at dynastic succession that did not work within the Congress was that of Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. He wanted to succeed his father, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the immensely popular chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh who died in a helicopter crash.
Illustration: Bhaskaran
Now Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is under intense family pressure to give a ticket to his son Yathindra for the assembly elections due in May next year. The Congress high command, which has for long encouraged dynasties in states, may yield to the request of the man who is leading its battle against the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular). The argument is that Siddaramaiah’s principal challengers aren’t any better. The BJP’s chief minister candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa, has a son in the legislative assembly; H.D. Kumaraswamy, former chief minister of the JD(S), is the son of a former prime minister; his brother H.D. Revanna is an MLA; and Revanna’s son and Kumaraswamy’s wife are among the ticket aspirants.
At the national level, the Congress is run by the Nehru-Gandhi family, while the BJP opposes dynasty politics. Even so, the BJP’s state leaders promote their children. Raman Singh and Vasundhara Raje, chief ministers of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, have their sons in Parliament, but they have not faced the brunt of the BJP’s dislike of dynasties. For several bigwigs of both the Congress and the BJP, family welfare remains a priority.
sachi@theweek.in
