Rule of dynasty has been common in India for a long time now and if you think it is losing ground with the fading of Gandhi parivar (family) then you are wrong. We have other families in Indian politics that are doing the same with names such as Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan coming to the forefront.
Family of Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad had earlier made her wife Rabri Devi the Chief Minister of Bihar and now is pushing eldest daughter Misa Bharati as candidate in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Misa will be contesting from Patliputra, which Lalu had lost in 2009. Apart from eldest daughter, his wife Rabri Devi will also be contesting from Saran. Lalu won this seat in 2009, but after being convicted in fodder fraud, he was forced to forfeit it. Presently he has been released on bail but will not be able to contest for another eleven years if the conviction is not overruled by any higher-level court.
The two names are from the list of other twenty-five candidates who will be contesting in the coming Lok Sabha elections as per the understanding they have reached with Congress. Lalu is also interested in bringing his two sons, Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, into politics. Tej Pratap has not shown any interest in politics as yet and Tejaswi is still 24 and will only be able to contest for Lok Sabha after reaching the age of 25.
Family of Ram Vilas Paswan
On similar lines, Ram Vilas Paswan has also fielded people from his family for the coming elections. Chirag Paswan who is an actor and debuted in a Bollywood movie in 2011 is all set to join politics. He will be contesting from Jamui in Bihar and is also the chairman of the parliamentary board of LJP. Recently Chirag played a major role in convincing Ram Vilas Paswan to created alliance with BJP.
Ramchandra Paswan who is Ram Vilas Paswan’s younger brother will be contesting from Samastipur. Thus out of the six candidates announced by the party for the Lok Sabha polls, three are from the family itself with Ram Vilas Paswan himself contesting the elections from Hajipur seat.
Thus as we can see, politics for some runs in the family and in blood too! Repeatedly we have seen family members taking precedence, where seats are allocated denying even the most loyal of party members, in Indian politics. Whether such tactics will yield positive results for them or not, we will have to wait and see.
