MIP - MARCH 2024

Politics, we are told, is truly the last refuge of scoundrels. But in the India of 21st century, it is not just scoundrels but also their heirs who shall eat the political cake and have it also for the family.
Politics, like it or not, is a powerful attraction for a lot of people. It is especially so in the third world. The creamier side of political office makes it especially so in the third world.
Remember Sukh Ram! In a raid on the residence of the then telecommunication minister Sukh Ram, the raid party found over 4 crores of rupees in cash lying all over the house. The notorious Bofors case involved a kickback of 64 crores rupees and there are umpteen such cases of massive escape of public money from the net of accountability. A good number of politicians, in the right place at right time, find that politics is, indeed, a very lucrative career. No questions are asked how these politicians and their families afford their expensively tasteful life style? GUCCI GANDHIANS! Did we hear some months ago, that the national exchequer lost some 60,000 crores of rupees due to the buccaneer decisions of Union Minister Raja of DMK, who incidentally is also the telecommunication minister like Sukh Ram of 1996. Even if it is only 10% for the minister, it is 600 crores. In New Delhi, DMK was an acronym for Delhi Money for Karunanidhi (DMK). The UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh did not bat an eyelid on the wrong doing. Our politicians know that those who live in glass houses will be safe if they do not throw stones at others. So, the loot of public money goes on! This is Indian politics. No wonder, every ambitious man and his family wants to be in politics. The avenue and possibilities of making real big bucks is, indeed, very huge in Indian politics.
A little digression. There is this changing of huge name boards-neon signs - of public sec
tor banks. The logic of this change may never to be debated. But change did take place in some of the banks, like south based Canara Bank, Mumbai based Union Bank, and Gujarat based Bank of Baroda. The change has cost the banks, and therefore, the public exchequer, hundreds of crores of rupees. According to grapevine, the contract to execute this change was given to one firm, and the firm is owned by the son of former Union Finance Minister and the current Union Home Minister Mr.P. Chidambaram, the suave, urbane, articulate and generally believed to be clean, Harward educated lawyer politician. In the days of yore, we had heard of late Nijalingappa’s son being given the contract for writing new name plates of railway stations all over India. You can imagine the amount involved for the whole of Indias railway network. Even those days it could be hundreds of crores of rupees. And Nijalingappa was the then railway minister.
That is why, there is no industry and career as lucrative as politics. It is not surprising that every one who started early on in the 40s, 50s and 60s wants to keep his strangle-hold on his turf.
Thus started the inheritance of ‘public service’ from father to son, father to daughter, mother to son, and all kinds of blood relations.
In the days of the yore, prior to independence it was the service orientation that propelled people to enter politics. But as years passed and India started registering progress, although slowly, politics attracted some newer section of Indians, like socialists. The socialists, more or less remained for one generation without bequeathing ‘public service’ to sons and daughters.
The first one to start this business of son-rise industry was the Nehru Gandhi family. It was truly after the sixties that family members of the senior politicians started entering this industry of politics. After the demise of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, (LBS) Ms. Indira Gandhi was anointed as the Prime minister, who was already a minister in LBS cabinet. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru remained in the seat for 17 long years, up to May 1964. Since, there was not as much of an indication by Nehru that he wanted his daughter to be the next in command of national affairs, it naturally went to LBS to be the Prime Minister, whom Nehru had groomed for greater responsibilities. But then LBS, unfortunately, both for his family and for India, died in 1966 in Tashkent. His stewardship of the country was of less than two years. He was probably the poorest and the most honest Prime Minister India ever had. In fact, when he died, he had hardly any bank balance, nor did he have his own house. He was Gods gift to free India, cleanest in every sense of the term.
Soon after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Indian National Congress elected Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, as the parliamentary leader of the party; and thus became the Prime Minister of India towards the end of 1966. She remained Prime Minister up to 1977 when after the Emergency disaster she lost power to the new political alliance of Janata party. However she returned as Prime Minister in 1980, thanks to the inherent contradiction of the Janata Party. Indira remained in power until she was assassinated in 1984 by her own body guards.
During her rule of about 15 years, she managed the affairs of Congress party with iron hand. She brooked no challenge to her
authority, either as party president or as Prime Minister. She stifled democracy within the party. As a result there was no second rung leadership to take over the reins of the party or the government.
During her premiership she encouraged her second son Sanjay Gandhi to play active role in Congress party politics. Eventually when he became an extra-constitutional authority, interfering in administrative matters Indira winked. He was a political upstart, rude, crude and autocratic. Congressmen, ever eager to have at least the crumbs of power, took all the humiliation inflicted by the mother and son. Unfortunately, for Sanjay’s family and for Indira Gandhi, Sanjay died in an aircrash in 1980. His irrepressible over-confidence and self-serving arrogance was his undoing.
Sanjay having gone, when Indira Gandhi, was killed, the mantle fell on the reluctant Rajeev Gandhi. Of Indira Gandhi’s two sons, Rajeev was the suave and gentler one. His wife Sonia had always tried to stop him from entering active politics. But then circumstances forced Rajeev to accept the Prime Minister’s position, since Congressmen never agreed on any one other than the Nehru family scion. So, for the first time, dynastic politics was formally consecrated to be the eternal saga of the ever evolving Indian politics. In 37 years Indian politics had come a full circle. From the grandfather to the grandson the seat of Prime Minister of India had passed on.
However, post 1977, politics did not remain same. Congress had tasted defeat for the first time in the 1977 parliamentary election. The Congress was no more invincible. But the sympathy wave for Rajeev enabled the Congress party with massive mandate of ¾ of electoral seats of over 400 in 1984 election to the Loksabha. This huge mandate somehow did not help bring about various reforms needed in the body politic of the country. Rajeev Gandhi with his coterie of advisors failed to usher an egalitarian India. He squandered a magnificent opportunity of cleansing India of its huge socio-economic problems compounded by the faulty economic policies of earlier years initiated by his grand father and mother. This inept management of the government during his first full 5 years term, came to an abrupt end in 1989.
Congress heavily lost the general election in 1989. Of course, corruption, especially Bofors, became a poll issue and the election threw up Janatha Dal, which again did not last the full term, due to the infighting by the selfish leaders of Janatha Dal, and succumbed to implosion in 1991. The same year during the election campaign Rajiv Gandhi got killed. He was only 47 years old. Suddenly Nehru Gandhi family didn’t have any one to take over the reigns of Congress party. In the ensuing election, the Congress won and P.V.Narasimha Rao was unanimously elected to be the Congress Parliamentary party leader and thus the Prime Minister. He remained for full 5 year term despite a wafer thin margin. In the election that followed Congress again lost and the opposition came to power. Despite political uncertainly, opposition parties managed to be in power until the last election in 2004, when Congress with the support of many regional parties including LEFT came back to power. For the first time Congress was forced into coalition politics.
In the meanwhile, son and daughter of Rajiv Gandhi were growing up for bigger assignments.
In a shameful show of intellectual bankruptcy and sycophancy, the Congressmen proposed Sonia Gandhi as Congress candidate for the Prime Ministership. That speaks volumes for the, over century old, oldest political party of India. Sycophancy is a special trait of Congreemen, particularly when it came to supporting the Nehru/ Gandhi family members. Without
exception they bent backwards to please the Mother – daughter - son combine. Of course there is a method in this madness. Most Congressmen were neither interested in the country’s welfare nor in democratic principles and practices. They were interested in promoting themselves and their family. By compromising everything including their dignity and honour, if they can manage a crumb of power, they were more than willing to prostrate before the ruling family. Or else how can you get your own kith and kin in the ‘service of the nation’ via the Congress Party? Thus began this Son-Rise Industry. You have this Minister Murli Deora a Rajya Sabha M.P.; his son Milind Deora is already an M.P.
Father Scindia died and son Jyothiradithya Scindia is an MP and minister. Rajesh Pilot died and Sachin Pilot is an MP and a minister. Jagjivan Ram died, and daughter is an MP and Minister. The great Karunakaran, the most scheming of all the Congressmen, promoted his son Muralidharan and daughter Padmaja. S.B. Chawan, the former CM of Maharashtra and former Home Minister at Centre has Ashok Chowan as his heir. After holding different post of ministership, he is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra at present. Media has already certified him as incompetent. Then there is Prathviraj Chawan at Centre, nephew of S.B.Chawan. You have Bangarappa of Karnataka, who hopped in and out of all parties and now planning a return to Congress, has his son Kumar Bangarappa, who is a former minister and presently an MLA.
When it comes to competency, dynastic promotion has no relation apparently. While it is generally admitted that Nehru was an intellectual giant and Indira a great strategist, the same cannot be said of Rajeev Gandhi and probably Rahul too. But both have the innate goodness of being good human beings and probably even more honest than Indira Gandhi. Of course, their loyalty to the country can never be doubted. But then, their rise has never been democratic. Their qualification is simply their family membership. This is a massive scratch-back society – you promote the interests of the influential family, and in turn it helps you to promote your family. This seems to be the growing philosophy, and sadly no one is concerned about stopping it or even to reducing it. That is the saddest aspect of India’s oldest political party. Due to this heir apparent business, anybody who is somebody will continue to ask for his pound of flesh. Look at Jaffar Sheriff bargaining for a seat for his son.
In fact there should be many Congressmen involved in promoting family interest, in the corridors of power, whose details may not be always available. Those who can’t get seats, are given something else, where benefit of office can be milked. After all, the objective is the same, to be of ‘service to the nation’, which includes service to self, family and of course the cronies.
Of course, in an evolving India, where only the powerful, well connected and moneyed people really progress, this son-rise industry was not confined to Congress alone.
One of the early birds among non-Congressmen was Devi Lal of Haryana. Despite his ripe age he was not only holding on to his seat of Chief Ministership, he promoted Omprakash Chautala, his son who eventually took over the reins of Chief ministership of Haryana. Recently, there was this news of one Chandra Mohan marrying again to another woman and get converted to Islam, probably to save the unscrupulous second marriage. It’s a different matter that the marriage broke and he was back with his first wife. But he was the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana and his father Bhajan Lal was four times Chief Minister. The news then informed, that due to long absence of 2 months, this Dy CM was sacked. This is what is happening when India be
comes a private fiefdom of a few individuals. In the neighbouring Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal had already made his son Sukhbir Singh Badal as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab without even consulting the partner BJP, and Sukhbir is already an M.P. There is going to be election to the parliament, so that the uninterrupted benefits of the office should be available to the son, was probably the thoughts of father Badal. Afterall ‘service to the nation’ has to continue by hook or crook.
Going up a little, Farook Abdulla made his son Omar, the Chief Minister of Kashmir. It was Shiekh Abdulla who was the first Chief Minister of Kashmir, son Farook followed and now it is grandson so that the son-rise industry flag is kept flying. Again in ‘service of Kashmiri’ interest.
Coming down, Vasundhara Raje Scindia of the Scindia family was the CM of Rajasthan for 5 years term on BJP ticket. She followed the footsteps of her mother Vijayaraje Scindia. With Yashodhara Raje Scindia being already an M.P. and Dushyanth Singh waiting in the wings for big time ‘service of the nation’. It is the entire family, who earlier ruled Gwalior Kingdom. So, the tradition of ‘Janatha sewa’ has to continue by the same ‘family of sewaks’.
Going east you have Lalu Prasad Yadav. When he lost CM’s position in Bihar, after conviction, he made his wife Rabri Devi the Chief Minister. So what, if she is semi literate. A servent of people need not be educated. In this case she is the wife of the former Chief Minister. It does not matter, if he had to leave the gaddi in disgrace. Then you have Rabri’s brother, Pappu Yadav, who needs to be promoted to keep the family turf intact. Pappu’s wife is already an M.P. Thus, in the family there is already four in public offices. All want to 'profusely serve the people'.
Then you have Lalu’s neighbour Mulayam Singh Yadav, the former UP Chief Minister. He already has his son Akhilesh Singh Yadav as M.P.
Not far behind is Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha’s notorious Shibu Soren. Despite losing the assembly election and failing to confirm his position as CM, he is trying hard to get his son Durga Soren to the CM’s gaddi.
Going further north east to Meghalya, we have Purno Sangma, although bit principled, promoted all his children to the political position of power. His two sons Conrad and James were already in the Meghalaya cabinet, the daughter Agatha is the latest entry to Parliament.
Then you have Patnaiks of Orissa. Its a bit of a closely held estate. Biju Patnaik left his son Naveen Patnaik to be only the Chief Minister and nothing less, who was earlier a Union cabinet minister in the NDA government at the centre. In the neighbouring state of Andhra, NT Ram Rao promoted his own brand of profligacy. His young autographer turned wife tried her luck after his death, but Chandra Babu Naidu, NTR’s brother-in-law from the first wife, being a better organiser succeeded in becoming the Chief Minister of Andhra for two terms but lost the third term.
Coming further down it is DMK empire. You have the whole coterie of Karunanidhi and his children and nephews. If son Stalin is the heir apparent, there is Azagiri, another son wanting his pound of flesh with daughter Kazimoni already a Rajya Sabha M.P. Then you have Dayanidhi Maran, son of Murasoli Maran. Thus the DMK citadel is very strong with its own family tree.
Coming up a little to the west, in Karnataka, the Gowda’s take the cake. H.D Devegowda, the biggest destabilising factor of Karnataka politics has his sons Revanna and Kumarswamy with daughter in-law Anitha making the assembly foray, the family is fully set for other members to enter the "service of people" arena. Of course, the current incumbent Yediyurappa is trying hard to get his son nominated as an MP candidate. But according to public stand BJP wants to discourage this family promotion culture. So it is hard luck for Yediyurappa.
Going up to Maharashtra, it has its own way of promoting selfish interests. You have PM aspirant Sharad Pawar promoting his daughter Supriya Sule, a Rajya Sabha M.P. So also his nephew.
Then you have this assertive family of Thackarays. The senior Thackaray had earlier promoted nephew Raj, who wasn’t ready to accept the son Thackaray, who was earlier in the back
ground. Thus the separation came about. Thus you have two camps of Thackarays, both ostensibly to serve the cause of Marathi Manoos. Then there are smaller fries like Shukla brothers (SC and VC) of Madhya Pradesh, sons of Pandit Ravi Shankar Shulka of Congress. Ajith Jogi and his son, also of Congress.
You have Charan Singh’s son Ajith Singh, the chemeleon of Indian politics. Thus, ‘Sons and Relatives (India) Pvt. Ltd’ is a story of multiple dimension. They are also there to serve the nation. But how much they have served themselves could be a study of massive loot of the nation’s resources. There’s no Lokayukta, Income Tax Department or Enforcement Directorates raiding their property to unearth the riches these ‘people’s servents’ possess.
Of course there are any number of politicians who did not promote their families, and who truly served the cause of nation.
Lal Bahadur Shastri is one such blemishless statesman whom all Indians can feel justifiably proud of, cleanest to the core. Gulzarilal Nanda, is another true gentleman who is lost out to the Indian consciousness, as a nationalist. Of course, JP did not accept position even for himself.
There are many who truly came into politics to serve the nation rather than serve themselves.
Although it may be difficult to say that Ramkrishna Hegde is a clean politician, but he did not promote his own family. So was Annadurai, and Kamaraj. Thus, while there are lots of leaders who lived exemplary lives, the one’s who dirtied our political landscape are calling the shots today. They have amassed private wealth in their public life, and using the money clout, they promote themselves and their cronies, including families.;
What is the hope for a better India in the present scenario is a million dollar question. Shall there be deliverance for mother India from this Sons & Relatives (India) Pvt. Ltd.? Not until you and I wait for others to wake up.
I&C feature with inputs from V.K.Talithaya