Liberal Democracies Like India Are Most Vulnerable To Dynasties & Tribal Lords

Liberal democracies, like India, are most vulnerable to exploitation both by feudal lords of yesteryears and political bosses of today. Dynastic democracy may not be exclusive to India but the dominance of feudal lords in its political arena is. Even though India abolished all privy purses by an Act of Parliament in 1971, many of the Members of the lower House of Parliament, called Lok Sabha, still want to be addressed as Rajas (King), Kunwars (Prince), Maharanis (Queen) and Kunwarani (Princess). It was Indira Gandhi, who herself had been a great beneficiary of the concept of dynastic democracy, that just managed to get the Privy Purses Abolition law passed by a few votes. Now her daughter-in-law, Italy born Sonia Gandhi, who is the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance as well as the President of Congress party, has issued an advisory to all her party MPs to avoid appending royal or princely titles to their names.

June.24.2009 - PJ Paul, Independent Writer

CURRENT MPS WITH ROYAL TITLES
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh is addressed as Raja sahib and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, and now an MP, is Raja Virbhadra Singh. Other MPs from royal families include Maharani Ratna Singh, Raja Sanjay Singh, Kunwar Arjun Singh, Kunwar RPN Singh and Kunwar Jyotiraditya Scindia. Article 363 A of the Indian Constitution had withdrawn the powers and titles of the rulers of the erstwhile princely states.

THE INDIRA GHANDI BLOODLINE
Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv, one of two sons of Indira Gandhi, plays the kingmaker and is considered major brain behind the scenes. Her advisory is more than a directive as all Congress MPs not only bend backwards to keep her and her charismatic son, Rahul Gandhi, pleased. Those who followed the just concluded elections to lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) are overtly impressed by the campaigning Rahul Gandhi did to get India’s oldest political outfit back on rails in Uttar Pradesh, the biggest and most powerful political state of independent India. If Congress ever went out of power, it was primarily because people of Uttar Pradesh turned their back on the Nehru-Gandhi clan of Indira Gandhi. Several of feudal lords of Uttar Pradesh, including one of former Prime Ministers, VP Singh, sat in Lok Sabha for several terms. Now Sonia Gandhi wants them to be addressed as equals with other members of Parliament, many of whom also come from strong political families.

THE NEXT GHANDI
If Indira’s father, Jawahar Lal Nehru, was first Prime Minister of India, her grand son, Rahul Gandhi, is destined to be the next Prime Minister after economist-turned-intellectual politician Dr Manmohan, now 76 and enjoying second term as Prime Minister, decides to call it a day. Rahul Gandhi’s father, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded Indira Gandhi after she fell to bullets of her own bodyguards in 1984, months after she had ordered storming of Golden Temple, sanctum sanctorum of the Sikhs, by Indian Army. Rajiv Gandhi, too, was assassinated. His only brother, Sanjay Gandhi, who was once considered a strong successor to Indira Gandhi, had died in an air crash. Sanjay Gandhi’s widow, Maneka Gandhi, and son Varun Feroze Gandhi, also sit in Parliament but they belong to the main Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janta Party.

OTHER INDIAN DYNASTIES
Other than Gandhis, families dominating Indian political scenario are those of Scindias – royals from Gwalior; Abdullahs from Kashmir; Badals from Punjab, Chautalas and Hoodas from Haryana, Karuna clan from Tamil Nadu and several others. All these families are represented in Indian parliament. Punjab and Tamil Nadu are two provinces where both a father is Chief Minister and a son is Deputy Chief Minister. While Parkash Singh Badal is Chief Minister, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, is Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. Likewise, Karunanidhi is Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, son Stalin is Deputy Chief Minister. Farooq Abdullah is Union Minister and son, Omar, is Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, a state that has been witnessing turbulence for over two decades now.

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