Why Dynasty Vs Democracy Is Also About Another “Independence Struggle”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told BJP Parliamentary Party meeting that there will be no place for Family-based, dynastic politics in the party, and that BJP would continue to challenge those who have based their politics on Family and dynastic succession, said media reports.

Earlier, during campaigning in recent assembly elections, the PM often hit out at “Parivaarvad”.

The recent assembly election results proved a number of conventional wisdoms, theories and assumptions wrong. The results are also a pointer to the next battle of Big Ideas in India: Between Family-based Parties vs Parties based on Meritocracy.

For some, “Family is Party”. Some others say, “Party is Family”. BJP would, perhaps, classify this battle of ideas as those championing “Nation First” vs those who are committed to “Family First”.

For instance, the mind boggles at how some contenders in UP had as many as 40 family members holding public office, and even then they found enthusiastic support from sections of the media.

It is fairly well known that Congress institutionalized Family Raj in the country. Reams have been written on how First Family dictated national priorities and choices, when Congress was in power. Taking a cue, parties outside the BJP system, regional or national, in North or in South, West or East (with one or two exceptions, perhaps) chose to perpetuate Family Raj -- some in name of “social justice,” some in name of “secularism,” and some in name of “regional pride”.

Fact is when a Closed Group of families seeks to tighten its stranglehold over people, their aspirations, future and destinies, this militates against the basic principles of democracy.

In a 2018 paper, researchers Siddharth E George and Dominic Ponattu observed that “political dynasties are present in over 145 countries across the world”. In the context of India, they noted that the percentage of dynast MPs grew from 1.1 per cent in 1952 to 8 per cent in 2014.

More recently, in an interview with “India Today,” Prashant Kishor said (probably on the basis of some study) that “more than two-thirds of MPs under 40 who get elected in the present Parliament or previous ones, had some sort of “dynastic connection”.

The current turmoil in Congress, which has multiple dimensions, is also to do with Family Raj.

Given this background, every right-thinking Indian should be concerned, rather alarmed, over how Dynasty-based politics has hit at the fundamentals of India’s democratic ideals.

To draw an analogy with the cricketing world, years ago, one used to hear about pressure groups, representing cities or regions, in Team selections. The M S Dhoni phenomenon revolutionized the cricketing world, opening doors for small-town boys, with no Godfathers or lobbyists to back. 

Similarly, conventional Corporate Boardrooms were often monopolized by Big Guys, in big centres. If the Start-Up revolution changed the entrepreneurship scene in the country, it is Tier 2 and Tier 3 centres that hold promise of the next wave of Start-up innovations.

Coming back to the word of politics, it will be an interesting exercise to see how many presidents, past or present, of different political parties, national or regional, began their careers by distributing pamphlets, pasting posters or organising local meets. BJP presidents have often risen from the grassroots. The example of PM Modi is well known. It is also true that as opposition to Family-based parties gains further momentum, the appeal of a party like BJP will only grow.

The quest for a post-Dynasty Democracy is all about deepening democracy and democratic ethos. When a society grows out of Closed Clubs’ and Families’ stranglehold, democratization and empowerment are end results.

It doesn’t mean, however, that a politician’s child should be denied the right to seek a career in politics. While discussing political and electoral reforms, maybe, political parties would like to discuss provisions like a well-defined “cooling-off period” before a second member of a family of a party office-bearer or those holding public office, is allowed such privileges.

Several decades ago, India witnessed the Independence Movement. It saw second Independence Movement when the Emergency was imposed. So well-entrenched and institutionalized is Family Raj in the country that it calls for another “Independence Struggle”. 

A quest for Democracy must be every right-thinking Indian’s concern. Those who realize the power of the idea will undertake necessary changes. Those who refuse to change will be rendered irrelevant.

(The writer, a JNU alumnus, is a political analyst. Views are personal)