A Party with a Difference

How the BJP Redefined Leadership in Indian Politics

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For much of independent India's history, politics was shaped by a sense of entitlement that confused inheritance with legitimacy.

One family and one party came to believe they were born to rule. Over time, this mindset hollowed out institutions and conditioned generations to treat political privilege as a birthright. That assumption is now being challenged by a new political ethic rooted in merit, accountability and performance.

A recent article in The Indian Express, titled "One Nation, a Few Parivars", raises an important question about the persistence of dynastic politics in India. The issue it highlights is real, but the interpretation is incomplete. Dynasties do exist across parties, including within the BJP. Yet what distinguishes the BJP is that family background does not translate into automatic leadership. This is a party where opportunity must still be earned, where an individual's rise depends on work, commitment and public trust, not lineage. In the BJP, a family name may open a door, but it cannot keep it open.

This distinction is fundamental. Political kinship is not a problem in itself. Hereditary control is. When leadership becomes the property of a single family, when internal debate is replaced by fealty to bloodlines, democracy withers. The contrast between political cultures is stark. Since 2000, the Bharatiya Janata Party has had eight national presidents, Bangaru Laxman, Jana Krishnamurthi, Venkaiah Naidu, L. K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Amit Shah and J. P. Nadda. Each emerged from different regions and backgrounds, and each rose through the discipline of organisational work. During the same period, the Congress has had only three presidents, two of them Gandhis. Sonia Gandhi held the post for nineteen years, and even today the family retains the final word.