Dynastic politics: The Great Indian Gharana

Suraj Barjatiya must be oh so happy. In keeping with the generic plot-twist formula of the age-old Indian family, Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, sacked uncle and Samajwadi Party State Unit President Shivpal Yadav, at a party to which the latter was clearly not invited. He should have seen it coming, one might argue, given that he’d already had ministerial berths taken away from him shortly after he’d been appointed to the post by Mulayam Singh Yadav, replacing Akhilesh. What’s a dynastic party without some internal fireworks, eh? Not even the sang froid of the Gandhis has withstood the lifting-of-the-facade aim of author Tavleen Singh. Down South, DMK chief Karunanidhi, who has already announced Stalin as his successor, declared him so, again. The re-announcement comes when strife between Stalin and his older brother, MK Alagiri, is peaking. Karunanidhi, ironically, also assures the weary-of-waiting world he won’t be retiring any time soon. And so, K Kavitha, daughter of K Chandrashekhar Rao says to the press, “dynastic politics is a reality” in every political party in India, so why point fingers at the Telangana Rashtra Samiti since their family members were “at the forefront of the Freedom struggle”.

With that feel swoop of whataboutery, a social media term used to indicate a tendency to make facile comparisons between similar events that occur elsewhere and at other periods in time that received dissimilar treatment, Kavitha Rao has provided justification for every ill of dynasty we remain unable to rid ourselves of. The merit of a sacrifice that occurred at one point in time does not automatically carry over to its filial nominees.

From governing Kashmir to entrance to elite law colleges, dynasty overtly or covertly commandeers decisions of who will be allowed entry. With it, the general electorate, like an extended family captive at another Thanksgiving blowout, is subject to the fall outs of dysfunctional family disputes as well.

Is dynasty entirely dispensable? It is human nature that education, training and following tends to be handed down more easily within its protected framework. But there is a need to measure such handing down with honesty. A perfect example would be Hindustani classical gharanas, where many a son or daughter receives training from the father. But the difference is training. No child of a gharana works in privileged isolation or can take his father’s mantle for granted. The sadhana is as much, if not more, as those outsiders who make their way in to acquire the same learning at the guru’s feet.