A dynastic obsession and a Left headache

The broadening base of our democracy seems to have narrowed in the 15th Lok Sabha with political dynasties and feudal royals crowding ordinary aspirants out of the country's apex legislative body. A rough head count of these worthies from among the newly elected Members of Parliament adds up to an astounding figure of 150. The strength of the Lok Sabha being 543, it means that approximately 28 percent of our MPs belong to an elite club that has sprung up with the entry of a new generation of politicians. Dynasty is not the prerogative of the Congress alone. The bug to choose from established political families has bitten virtually all parties, except perhaps the Left. A quarter of the BJP's 20 Mps from Karnataka are relatives of ministers in Yeddyurappa's government in Bangalore. The BSP and SP are guilty too. In fact, 30 MPs from Uttar Pradesh, cutting across party lines, are inheritors of political legacies.

But it is in Punjab that the dynastic obssession is the highest. Nine of its 13 Mps come with almost blue-blooded political lineage across the relationship spectrum, from son to daughter to grandson to daughter-in-law to wife. Interestingly, the royalty quotient too has touched a new high in this Lok Sabha with as many as 16 Mps hailing from erstwhile princely families. So what if privy purses were abolished in 1969. The security guard at the entrance of Parliament didn't bat an eyelid when he was asked to call for the car of a newly elected MP using her royal title!
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Fertiliser industry czars are hunting for Tamil interpreters to help them communicate with the new union minister M K Alagiri. This controversial son of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi knows neither English nor Hindi, which left everyone speechless at the first interaction between the minister and the captains of the fertiliser industry. As is the convention, fertiliser manufacturers from the private and public sectors called on Alagiri a day after he took over. To their surprise, the meeting barely lasted a few minutes as Alagiri hastily handed them over to his private secretary after the mandatory photo op. For the record, the PS is an IAS officer from north India, a Yadav as it happens, who belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre. It's clear who's going to do the talking in the fertiliser ministry for the next five years.
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Manmohan Singh may be free of Prakash Karat but he hasn't been able to rid himself of leftist baggage. Feisty Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced the other day that the CPI(M) is bad but Left ideology is good. If only Singh had read the TMC's election manifesto. He would have known what's in store for him in his second innings. The Trinamool's manifesto reads like a CPI(M) document on as many as 32 out of 35 points related to central government policy. With Mamata turning out to be the flagbearer of all the CPI(M)'s pet peeves, the PM may find that he's jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
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Tailpiece
The mystery behind the last-minute decision to extend cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar's tenure by a year cleared after a quick read of the civil services list. By the time Chandrsekhar finally demits office next year, 10 Janapth's favourite babu will have reached the top of the succession list and will be ready to take over as the country's chief bureaucrat. It's called thinking ahead. Till then, the babu is cooling his heels in Washington in the cushy comfort of an international organisation.