BENGALURU: Unlike in the 2023 assembly polls, dynastic politics is likely to be a non-issue in the Lok Sabha elections, with all parties equally guilty of fielding family members -- sons, daughters and even sons-in-law -- of top leaders.
The BJP, which was conventionally against dynastic politics and attacked the Congress and JDS on this point, has been silenced by its alliance with the JDS, branded as the ‘Appa-makkala’ party. The Congress, especially Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, would go hammer and tongs against the regional party for its propensity to keep all tickets within the family, but has itself fielded over a dozen kin of top leaders.
This time, AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Dodmani is contesting from Kalaburagi, and former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda’s son-in-law Dr C N Manjunath is contesting on a BJP ticket from Bengaluru Rural. Both Kharge and Gowda, Rajya Sabha members, chose not to contest the LS polls for their own reasons.
Gowda’s grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna is the candidate once again, and Gowda’s son and former CM H D Kumaraswamy is likely to contest from Mandya. Interestingly, except for Kolar, which is reserved for SC category, only Gowda’s relatives will be in the fray in Old Mysuru region, considered a Vokkaliga bastion.
The BJP’s story is no different. Former CM B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra is Shikaripura MLA and state party chief, while his other son, sitting MP BY Raghavendra, has been renominated as candidate from Shivamogga LS seat. His detractor within the party and former minister K S Eshwarappa, a RSS loyalist, has turned rebel. The bone of contention is that when Yediyurappa’s sons are being given prominence, the party hasn’t treated his son Kanthesh in a similar manner. Kanthesh was an aspirant for Haveri LS seat, but the party declared former CM Basavaraj Bommai as its candidate.
CM Siddaramaiah, who had ensured his son Dr Yathindra got elected as Varuna MLA in the 2018 assembly polls, chose not to field him from Kodagu-Mysuru this time, following a survey report and the opinion of local leaders that went against him, according to sources.
But the GOP, which has issued LS tickets to ministers’ children, who are in their mid-twenties and early thirties, has been facing criticism in political circles.
The problem with all leaders, big or small, is that they want political power to remain within their families. Irrespective of the outcome of the elections, they are likely to have a strong hold over the region so that no young leaders emerge, observed political analysts.