All the aayis, taayis, mamis, kakis and mulgis in Maharashtra and their elder sisters elsewhere are celebrating that their state has got its first woman deputy CM in Sunetra Pawar. Indeed a great moment, except that she has got the post as a legacy of her deceased husband. Nothing to be ashamed of. Lady Astor became the first woman to take a seat in the House of Commons, because her husband had to give it up when elevated to the House of Lords.
This has been a problem more with India and most oriental democracies. Sri Lanka had two woman rulers, Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga—both from the same family. Indonesia had Megawati Sukarnoputri, Pakistan had the Bhutto daughter, Bangladesh had the two daughters of the two Rahman clans, and more.
No different in India either. With all respect to them including Sunetra, their political acumen and administrative abilities, the fact remains that several women—right from Indira Gandhi who was the world’s second woman PM—reached positions of power because they came from political families, either by birth or marriage (much the same about several men too). This is not to forget a few illustrious exceptions like Jayalalithaa, Mayawati or Mamata Banerjee, who came up on their own and ruled, or have been ruling, with more grit than most of the men who have ruled their states before or after.
Sunetra Pawar after taking oath as Maharashtra's first woman deputy CM | PTI
Sunetra was born in a political family. Her brother was an MP, and she married into Maharashtra’s most influential and powerful political family headed by one of India’s most regarded, even by his opponents, living politician.
She entered active electoral politics during the 2024 general election. She contested from Baramati and lost to incumbent MP Supriya Sule—an overreach, considering Baramati had been the seat of the family patriarch Sharad Pawar who had legated it to daughter Supriya. After all, in an Indian family pecking order, daughter-in-law or niece-in-law, comes much after daughter. Especially so, if that branch has been staying a wee-bit estranged from the patriarch. Sunetra lost by a margin of 1.58 lakh votes, and has been in the Rajya Sabha since.
To repeat, this is not to denigrate Sunetra’s achievements, or those of other illustrious women who have made it to positions of power. Such thoughts are as far away from my mind as Bihar’s Rabri Devi is from Britain’s Margaret Thatcher.
Much as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah scoff at the dynasticism in the Congress, the fact is that it is regional parties, including several of the BJP’s allies, that are practising family politics more than the national parties. Among the largest political dynasties are Tamil Nadu’s Karunanidhi clan which sent several sons, nephews and daughter Kanimozhi into politics, the Reddys of Andhra Pradesh who sent the wife (Vijayamma) and daughter (Y.S. Sharmila) of the erstwhile patriarch into politics, the Raos of Telangana (K. Chandrashekar Rao and K.T. Rama Rao), the Gowdas of Karnataka where patriarch Deve Gowda’s two sons and two daughters-in-law were/are in legislative or local bodies, the Yadavs of Bihar and the Yadavs of Uttar Pradesh.
Haryana, where the political fight of the late 1970s onwards has been between a couple of Lal clans, and has been the most male chauvinistic state (where several daughters have been prevented from being born, and where they are now importing brides for their boys) has also encouraged their girls into politics. Erstwhile patriarch Devi Lal’s grandson Ajay Chautala has sent his wife Naina to the assembly, while clan head Bansi Lal’s daughter and daughter-in-law have been in the state and Union legislatures.
prasannan@theweek.in