Netaji Inc
Charge of the family brigade

THERE is no business like politics. Investment is ridiculously low, returns are astonishingly high and the gestation period is unbelievably short. Rags-to-riches miracles are an everyday happening. That is why anyone who enters the sweepstakes is there for ever. Conventional wisdom is that politicians and asses never change their profession. Why should they when they can get the biggest pot of gold while doing little else than being their papa’s children?

Forget about switching over to another line. Politics becomes family business for most once the firm Netaji Inc. is established. Dynastic rule may be a thing of the past for erstwhile royalty, but is very much the in-thing for today’s rajas, oops, rulers. Just as maharajas used to hand over their states to their sons (or daughters, as the case may be) and industrialists bequeathed their companies to their wards, politicians anoint their sons and daughters as their heirs. The only difference is that the brand name is known as "legacy" in this case.

Look around, and you will come across not one but hundreds of such worthies who claim to be leaders by birth. The unwritten law is that if papa dear had a following, then the baba log are entitled to it. Netagiri is the shoe into which the offspring has to step in by way of natural succession—regardless of whether it fits or not.

Inheritances often come with the risk of disputes, especially when there is more than one claimant for the legacy. N.T Rama Rao’s political estate has many claimants. There was the other son-in-law, Dr D.Venkateswara Rao, who has faded away from the scene, and at least one of NTR’s sons who briefly made an appearance to remind everyone that he was around too. Then, there is NTR’s second wife, Laxmi Parvati, who is now writing a book, which she hopes will hurt Chandrababu Naidu in the coming elections. As if battling his in-laws was not enough headache, Naidu has to contend with his own brother who is stirring up trouble in his backyard. Closer home, there is a running battle between the sons of Tau Devi Lal, although Om Prakash Chautala has taken an unbeatable lead over Ranjit Singh who is with the Congress.

The son’s vote-catching power increases manifold if papa happens to be a maharaja to boot. There could not be a better example of this than the case of the Gwalior royal family. The electoral victory posted by Jyotiraditya Scindia would have been the envy of even daddy Madhav Rao Scindia. Bua Vasundhara Raje Scindia is the BJP Chief Minister in Rajasthan, just as grandmother Vijayraje Scindia was a leading light of the BJP. That way, the family has all its flanks covered. In market terms, one might say the family has a diversified portfolio of (political) investments. In fact, this follow-me, follow-my-son/daughter phenomenon has a lot to do with hundreds of years of our raja-praja tradition. We are so used to the rule of succession followed in royal families that we think nothing odd about a politician passing the baton on to his own blood.

The personality factor has a greater hold than even the party label. What you inherit from your parents becomes your personal property, which you can carry along, transfer or mortgage at will. Since Charan Singh was a "kisan leader", Ajit Singh, without doubt, had to be one, and the inherited followers faithfully switch loyalty as he goes party-hopping. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was always a Congressman. His son Sunil Shastri quit the party and joined the Janata Dal in 1998. The other son, Anil Shastri, was with the Janata Dal in the 1989 elections but joined the Congress in 1991. That more or less maintains the overall family balance sheet. Former Punjab Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon’s son Surinder Singh Kairon was initially in the Congress like his father but later joined the Akali Dal. Surinder Singh Kairon’s son Adesh Pratap Singh is currently with the Akali Dal.

However, these political families that belong to the elected elite pale into insignificance before the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Jawaharlal Nehru was once taunted by some close associates that he was appointing family members to various key posts. His disarming reply was: "What can I do when exceptionally talented people are born in my family?" Well, the exceptional genes continue to run in the blood of the family, it seems. After Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi, it is the turn of Rahul and Priyanka to take on the mantle, and also to prepare the next generation as jewels for the crown of India. Since eminence rubs off also by marriage, it will be no surprise if Robert Vadra too decides to throw his hat in the ring and joins the fray some day.

What happens at the national level just has to be replicated in every state. Devil Lal was confronted with a similar question when he was filling key posts in Haryana with his kith and kin. His typically forthright reply befitting the earthy Jat that he was: "Hor ke karoon? (What else should I do?). Should I give the jobs to my opponents?"

Thanks to great leaders like him, politics is now a closely-held family venture, and there is no dearth of venture capital at election time. To make it really big, you have to be born in the right family. Of course, birth is not the only route to greatness. You can also marry your way to leadership, as is the case with Kiran Chaudhary and Smita Thackeray (daughters-in-law of Bansi Lal and Bal Thackeray, respectively).

Since dynasties are thriving in almost every party, any blame game would be tantamount to the pot calling the kettle black. For instance, can Omar Abdullah say anything about Mehbooba Mufti or Sachin Pilot about Naresh Gujral?

But the finest example is provided by Laloo Yadav. When things became too hot for him in the fodder scandal, he simply pulled Rabri Devi out of the kitchen and handed over the reins of a rudderless Bihar to her. Brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav too had to become a power centre. Sari khudai ek taraf joru ka bhai ek taraf. In Uttar Pradesh, Amita singh, wife of Sanjay Singh, is a prize convert for the Congress. In Kerala, veteran Congress chief minister K. Karunakaran could be restrained from leaving the party only on the promise of a ministerial berth for his son. The Kerala strongman was obviously not content at his son being merely the state party chief when he, the father, had been the chief minister. With Sonia Gandhi’s own children being declared to be Congressmen by birth and therefore entitled to cherry-pick the political fruits they desire, it would have been grossly unfair had she denied Karunakaran his paternal ambitions for son K. Muralidharan.

Although ‘family planning’, which got a bad name during the Emergency, came to be tagged ‘family welfare’, thereafter, there can be no doubt that when it comes to political families, there is thorough planning with an eye on the khandaan’s welfare. The children of I.K. Gujral (Naresh Gujral), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Akhilesh Yadav) , M. Karunanidhi (M.K. Stalin), K.Natwar Singh (Jagat Singh), Deep Chand Bandhu (Anil Tewalia), Parkash Singh Badal (Sukhbir Singh Badal), Bhajan Lal (Chander Mohan), Bansi Lal (Surendra Singh), Sukh Ram (Anil Sharma), Murasoli Maran (Dayanidhi Maran) and Lalit Maken (Ajay Maken) are either already in politics or are set to take the plunge, just like the siblings of other better-known families. Mind you, the list is in no way complete or comprehensive. Besides there are also wives, daughter-in-law, nephews and brothers-in-law of sundry others politicians who are very much in the fray. So far, the electorate has not disappointed them. That’s why the tribe of netas by birth grows. The term ‘representative democracy’ has been given new meaning although its content has not altered very much in favour of the common man.

Prudent camp followers know how to make their future secure. They start kowtowing to the son/daughter of a politician right from the day of birth. It is a good long-term investment, that doesn’t impose any entry or exit load

Trucks bearing the names of owners — "XYZ and sons" — are a common sight. Similar is the case with many business enterprises. How one wishes the same trend was followed in politics as well. It would be so appropriate to have nameplates like "Netaji and sons". With so many families thriving in politics, it might soon become necessary to have reservations, since restrictions would not work. In fact, reserving a percentage of seats in elected bodies for family members would be in the interests of public good, because there would at least be a cut-off level. Those who consider this suggestion outrageous have to only pause for a moment to imagine Laloo Yadav — thankfully, his family runs only one state — packing a whole cabinet with his offspring and their in-laws.

HOME