Dynastic politics has been an inherent part of the Indian political system for a long time now. Ever since Indira Gandhi stepped into the shoes of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, the trend has grown by leaps and bounds in this country known earlier for its kings (rajas) and several royal dynasties and feudal lords that traditionally held sway over numerous kingdoms even under the colonial rule.
Though the Nehru-Gandhi family is indubitably the most chanted name in Indian politics, it is just one among the many families that choose political kin from their own flock. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Deve Gowda and Karunanidhi are some of the popular leaders who have decided to maintain the political clout of their respective parties with family members. The entry of relatives into Indian politics may have been eased by the political power exercised by their families. However, it by no means guarantee their individual success in a democracy like India as is the case of Rahul Gandhi, who lost from a constituency in the recently concluded general elections.
The Lok Sabha elections 2019 was a bitter-sweet moment for most dynasties in India.
The Nehru-Gandhi family
While Sonia Gandhi, one of the two daughter-in-laws of Indira, sailed safely through her Lok Sabha seat Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, her son Rahul Gandhi had a different story to tell. He lost to BJP's Smriti Irani at a nearby constituency, Amethi, considered to be a safe bet for the Nehru family. The Congress President, however, achieved a resounding win in Kerala'a Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency with a lead of over 4,30,000.
Interestingly, Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi, have established themselves well in the opposite BJP camp with an easy win in their respective camps -Sultanpur and Pilibit from UP.
Maneka is the widow of Indira's son Sanjay Gandhi and Varun is her lone child.
Sonia being the widow of Indira's eldest son Rajiv Gandhi.
The family of Mulayam Singh Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) have won from their respective seats in UP in the just-concluded election.
Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav was upset by a BJP candidate in SP bastion Kannauj.
Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam's politically estranged brother, as well as Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav, his nephews, too lost from the Lok Sabha constituencies where they had tried their electoral luck in the 2019 general elections.
Shivpal Yadav had quit SP and formed his own outfit named the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia). Both Shivpal and Akshay contested from the same seat, Firozabad.
The family of Ram Vilas Paswan
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) headed by Ram Vilas Paswan is also turning out to be a dynastic concern. While Paswan himself stayed out of the elections, his two brothers - Ramchandra Paswan and Pasupathi Kumar Paras -- and son Chirag Paswan emerged victorious in their contest from constituencies in Bihar.
The party had contested on six seats and half of them had a Paswan family member as its candidate. All the LJP candidates won their elections.
The family of Karunanidhi
The family members and relatives of DMK's late patriarch M Karunanidhi are well entrenched in Tamil Nadu politics. The Dravidian party and its allies bagged 37 out of 38 Lok Sabha seats on which elections were held in the state. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi won from Thoothukudi and grandnephew Dayanidhi Maran was the victor from Chennai Central Lok Sabha constituency.
The family of NTR
The children of late NT Rama Rao, the founder of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, were unable to live up to his legacy this time. His daughter D Purandeshwari, a BJP candidate badly lost and finished fourth on the Visakhapatnam seat. M V Sri Bharat (Bharath Mathukumilli), the son-in-law of NTR's son N Balakrishna, also lost from the same seat as a TDP candidate.
Chandrababu Naidu and son
Outgoing Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu is is the son-in-law of TDP founder NTR.
Naidu, also the current chief of TDP, couldn't retain power as the YSRCP won the AP assembly elections held alongside the Lok Sabha polls this summer. He retained his Kuppam assembly seat, but his son N Lokesh lost from Managalagiri in his maiden bid to enter the AP legislative assembly.
Naidu's bid to rally anti-BJP turned out to be a fiasco as the BJP retained power at the Centre with a full majority.
Interestingly, YSRCP led by Jaganmohan Reddy is the son of former Andhra CM and Congress stalwart YS Rajasekhara Reddy. His fledgling party nearly swept both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.