The 'mystery' of thriving political dynasties

Scores of inheritors in sports, cinema and corporate India have failed despite having all the initial advantages. The natural question is why doesn't the same happen in politics?

- SUTANU GURU

Thousands of articles, columns, podcasts, debates and television shows have already peppered politically inclined Indians in the aftermath of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Barring a few honourable exceptions, the postmortem has been anchored by ideological affiliations and prejudices. In this age of polarised partisanship where confirmation bias has become the norm, that is hardly surprising. Accusing a journalist of being partisan is meaningless; it is like accusing a municipal corporation employee in Delhi, Rajkot, Bangalore or Mumbai of being corrupt.

The glaring example of this can be seen in how the postmortems have treated the "unexpected" performance of the Congress. The "Godi" media has called the near doubling of the Congress Lok Sabha seat tally as a flash in the pan and is going on and on about how Rahul Gandhi hoodwinked voters with the Rs 100,000 per year false promise. The "Pidi" media is busy singing paens to the rise of yet another Gandhi who is destined to rule India. They are convinced Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would have defeated Narendra Modi in Varanasi.

The very few who remain independent applaud the success of the Congress as a strong opposition as tonic for a healthy democracy, but also point out that the Congress cannot rest on its laurels as the serious task of rebuilding the party organisation in important states remains unfulfilled.

If you are a non-partisan observer of Indian politics and have followed the results of the Lok Sabha elections closely, another trend is very clearly discernible.

And it deserves more attention and analysis from political scientists. It is the enduring success of political dynasties in the country.

For years, if not decades, we have heard everyone say how political dynasties are cripplingly injurious to a democracy. We have heard how dynasties have built such formidable barriers to entry that talented and better equipped leaders cannot break through the obstacles.