Political events in India can rant and rave about nepotism and dynastic politics all they’ll however they hardly observe what they preach. It was one other ‘son-rise’ second in Dravidian politics when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin elevated his son Udhayanidhi Stalin as his deputy on September 29. Udhayanidhi, 46, is formally quantity two within the authorities and his occasion DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). He’s in control of planning and growth, poverty alleviation, and rural indebtedness along with his present duties as minister for youth welfare and sports activities growth.
Udhayanidhi debuted in politics hardly 4 years in the past and received his first election three years in the past. However the first-time MLA was inducted as a minister in December 2022. For every other politician, this meteoric rise would have been unthinkable.
Indian politics is replete with comparable ‘son-rise’ tales. Working the occasion comes as a birthright and seasoned politicians are pressured to step again. This ensures that wealth accrued by political corruption and energy stays concentrated inside one household. The unstated rule is that with the quantity of unaccounted wealth that politicians generate or stash, it’s not doable to contain outsiders.
To retain leverage, preserving all of it inside the household is the most effective guess, no questions requested. It’s akin to businessmen passing the mantle to their progeny. Whereas for professions like legislation, medication or science, benefit is vital, politics follows a special trajectory.
From Congress to the BJP, Samajwadi Get together to Bahujan Samaj Get together (BSP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) to Nationwide Convention and PDP (Peoples Democratic Get together); Telugu Desam, BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) to DMK, RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) to LJP (Lok Janshakti Get together), Janata Dal Secular, NCP (Nationalist Congress Get together), Shiv Sena, and INLD (Indian Nationwide Lok Dal), the record is lengthy and exceptions are uncommon.
Fast promotion
Actor-turned-politician Udhayanidhi is following the identical path as his father Stalin, who was made Deputy Chief Minister by his grandfather (Stalin’s father) M Karunanidhi – DMK founder and former chief minister – after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
The Badals did it in Punjab; Sukhbir Singh Badal was made deputy to his father, then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
DMK supporters attribute Udhayanidhi’s promotion to 2 components – the necessity to construct up the occasion’s next-generation management and preps for the 2026 Tamil Nadu election. Stalin junior can be a part of a five-member coordination committee of senior leaders that’s planning methods for the state polls, making him an integral a part of the decision-making course of. With Stalin not preserving good well being, there’s a buzz that Udhayanidhi will step in additional actively as his father’s deputy with a purpose to cut back his father’s burden in addition to set up himself because the second-in-command.
Stalin additionally desires to counter Tamil actor Vijay, who not too long ago launched his occasion TVK (Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam) and has signalled an electoral debut within the forthcoming meeting elections.
“DMK wanted to venture a youthful face as second-in-line. Udhayanidhi’s efficiency has been spectacular each within the occasion and authorities, which has been the primary consideration for his elevation,” says MR Venkatesh, a senior journalist primarily based in Chennai.
He provides, “Change is the one fixed, mentioned his father Stalin not too long ago, indicating that comparatively youthful leaders could be taking new positions, within the curiosity of the occasion, as DMK has additionally emerged as an necessary participant within the Opposition spectrum on the nationwide stage.”
A standard thread
Many political dynasties just like the Thackerays and the Pawars in Maharashtra, the Yadavs and Paswans in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the NTR and YSR households in Andhra Pradesh, the Chautalas in Haryana, JMM in Jharkhand and the Badals in Punjab, have confronted splits up to now.
It is usually seen that apart from the son or daughter, the patriarch or the pinnacle of the occasion considers none within the dynasty or occasion dependable within the succession plan. Because the political aspirations of different relations or a succesful chief grows, there may be hassle within the household and occasion. The commonest consequence of this confrontation is a break up within the occasion, as we noticed within the case of the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra and the Samajwadi Get together in UP. Within the case of the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, a succesful and bold chief who rose from the ranks, was ignored by occasion patriarch HD Deve Gowda in favour of his son HD Kumaraswamy. Siddaramaiah stop the JDS and joined the Congress. The remainder is historical past.
Nonetheless, not all kin have benefited from the generosity of household. BSP’s Mayawati anointed her nephew Akash Anand because the occasion’s nationwide coordinator solely to unceremoniously sack him. Then she reinstated him.
Maybe probably the most profitable nephew is Abhishek Banerjee, the son of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s brother. He has firmly consolidated his place within the Trinamool Congress.
One can debate that political heirs are profitable as a result of folks vote them to energy. “The swipes towards dynasty politics have turn out to be irrelevant as all main events, together with BJP and Congress, have it. It isn’t that benefit is precluded, for except they carry out, they routinely turn out to be a legal responsibility to the occasion. That is the pattern throughout in politics at the moment,” says Venkatesh.
“The entry level seems simple… getting a ticket as so-and-so’s kin within the occasion. However they should carry out even higher to retain their place. It isn’t the old-world kinship entitlement anymore,” he provides.
(The writer is Contributing Editor, EDNBOX)
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the writer