In an election season where creating a splash with a stunt has become more important, the TMC has fielded former President Farkhruddin Ali Ahmed’s son Pervez Ahmed from the Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency in Assam.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has been exploring ways to expand her party’s base to the Northeast.
“What better way of doing it? Field a pedigreed candidate and the rest can be left to the voters,” a party leader told Express. Such cold calculations apart, descendents of traditional Congress families are all jumping into the fray this time and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP seems to be the most preferred political platform.
For instance, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi -- the original Gandhis have mostly stayed away from the heat and dust of politics -- has chosen to contest the general election from East Delhi on an AAP ticket.
He is pitted against sitting Congress MP Sandeep Dikhit and Art of Living exponent Mahesh Giri of the BJP.
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s grandson Adarsh Shastri has also joined the APP, chucking his Apple job. By all indications, Adarsh could contest from Lucknow against BJP chief Rajnath Singh and former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
The Congress did its bit by inducting C Rajagopalachari’s grandson C R Kesavan to its fold. The young and articulate Kesavan has been gustily defending the party and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi on TV debates, even though their grandfathers had fallen off quite bitterly. Kesavan could be fielded as the Congress candidate from Chennai Central.
Another Rahul acolyte and former President Shankar Dayal Sharma’s grandson-in-law, Ashok Tanwar will be contesting on a Congress ticket from Sirsa in Haryana.
Babu Jagjivan Ram’s grand-daughter from his son’s side, Medhavi Kirti, has joined the BSP and will be contesting against her aunt and LS Speaker Meira Kumar from Sasaram in Bihar.