Dynasts in democratic avatar will rule India

Soon after Jyotiraditya chose the exit door, all eyes are on Sachin Pilot, the erudite son of the affable late Rajesh Pilot.
Jyotiraditya Scindia with Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders.
Jyotiraditya Scindia with Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders.

Dynasty is survives and thrives on power, transcending geographical boundaries. Political dynasts are travelers of opportunism, who migrate from perch to perch so long as better returns are guaranteed. Political identities are negotiable since Indian royals thirst for the halcyon days of thrones and palaces. The royal movement of Gwalior dynast, the 49-year-old Jyotiraditya Scindia, to the saffron citadel from the Congress habitat where he had grazed sumptuously for 18 power packed years reflects the growing fear among their Highnesses of being denied their political privy purse.

It may be argued that the Scindia princeling was denied the fruits of this self deserved entitlement. He saw the numerous positions he had occupied in UPA times, such as chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister and even AICC General Secretary with CWC membership as paltry trimmings considering his popularity and influence. It is different matter that he acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the only Scindia to lose an election.

His family legacy compels him to be faithful to his clan’s political history. Jyotiraditya’s legendary grandmother, the virtuous Vijay Raje Scindia left the Congress in 1967 to topple the state government of the wily DP Mishra. She became the first woman deputy chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in the first coalition government. Her son Madhavrao Scindia, who succeeded her, fought on a Jan Sangh ticket in 1971 but joined the Congress later to remain undefeated in eight consecutive Lok Sabha elections.

He trounced the mighty Atal Behari Vajpayee. In the 1990’s, he left the party when the new prime minister PV Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation after an air crash though there were no causalities; it was a royal offer of conscience but the cunning Telugu doyen ignored his aviation minister’s pedestal positioning. Scindia then floated his own party only to return to the Congress when Sitaram Kesari became party president. Soon after his tragic death in an air crash in 2001, son Jyotiraditya succeeded him in politics. History repeated itself as spent force, because, for 18 years, he felt ignored, humiliated and irrelevant. His former party alleged that he desired to be the MPCC chief or a Rajya Sabha member so that he could return to the palatial bungalow in Lutyen’s Delhi where he had been staying for over three decades.

He was very close to Rahul Gandhi who was his college mate. When Kamal Nath upped him in the chief ministerial race, Rahul had confidently tweeted a photo of his on December 13, 2018, of Kamal Nath on his right and Scindia on his left with the suggestive caption “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.—Leo Tolstoy”. The Gandhi dynast perhaps overestimated the patience quotient of the Scindia Parivar. The dynasty came full circle after Jyotiraditya joined the rest of the family who are part of the Sangh Parivar. The princely peregrination reinforces the growing trend that the contours of Indian statecraft will always be defined by dynasts.

They may not hold important positions but their moves and merger plans are likely to shake and shape the future, the making and unmaking of state governments and even the Centre in the long run. Jyotiraditya’s party run has caused convulsions in the heart of India. If Kamal Nath— whose son incidentally is a Congress MP—falls, the neo-saffron Srimant’s immense relevance could transform him into a powerful future challenger to the local saffron establishment. His aunt Yashodhara Scindia is a BJP MLA and was repeatedly a minister in the Shivraj Chauhan government. His other aunt, Vasundhara, who has been marginalised for the time being, ran a parallel BJP caucus as Rajasthan’s CM.

Since both youth and charisma appear to be on Jyotiraditya’s side, he would turn out to be a major player if his patience lasts longer in BJP than in his former abode. Geology outlines the subtext of Indian politics. Pundits are watching the moods and moves of other dynasts in various political parties. Soon after Jyotiraditya chose the exit door, all eyes are on Sachin Pilot, the erudite son of the affable late Rajesh Pilot. Sachin feels that his legitimate right to assume the Rajasthan throne was denied though the Congress won under his leadership as PCC president.

Instead, vintage conciliator Ashok Gehlot was chosen because he is a master of faction management. It is unclear where Sachin stands on Jyotiraditya. But, how long his patience will last is anybody’s guess. In Haryana, Deepinder Hooda, who won two Lok Sabha elections with record margins, lost in 2019. He is the son of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, who was instrumental in winning 31 Assembly seats for the Congress in a last minute campaign spell. He felt that Deepinder is the best candidate for the single Rajya Sabha seat which the Congress is owed from Haryana. 

In Gujarat, the party had to reward Bharat Solanki with a RS berth since father Madhav Sinh Solanki was both chief minister and Union Minister; who had tried to save the Bofors accused by pleading with the then Swiss foreign minister to deny India information about payoffs. It’s not just the Congress which is infected with the Dynastvirus, which has traveled far and wide across familial political topography. The party gets maximum traction because its top post is reserved for a Gandhi since the past few decades. In fact, innumerable offspring of former and current ministers from across parties are given Assembly and Lok Sabha seats, including the BJP. In Bihar, it named Vivek Thakur, son of former Union minister CP Thakur as its candidate for the lone RS seat. A survey of the BJP’s mid level leadership reveals that dynasts will run all state units at some point in the future because power is the family oxygen.

Regional parties have become adept at grabbing and retaining power within the household. Outfits such as DMK, Shiv Sena, RJD, BJD, SP, JD(S), NCP, NC, SAD, JMM, RJP, TRS and YSRC are family-owned concerns, which control almost half of Indian states. Their succession lines are clearly defined. India is the only democracy in the world where dynastic rule is endorsed and legitimised by the ballot. The tragedy is that family- owned political enterprises lacking internal democracy are India’s elected rulers. The Scindia travel plan proves that the only person more loyal than the king is the king himself.

PRABHU CHAWLA prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

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