Click to play videoThe love of dynasties seems to unite both the BJP and the Congress in Maharashtra, with several sons and daughters being given tickets for the upcoming Assembly polls. But the ticket that has raised the most eyebrows is that which has been given to President Pratibha Patil's son. He is now set to be the Congress candidate from Amravati.
Rajendra Shekhawat is the second son in Indian history to be fighting elections whose parent is a sitting president. The first one to do so was V Shankar Giri, son of the president VV Giri who fought and won on a Congress ticket from Madhya Pradesh in the early '70s.
Shekhawat is making his electoral debut in style - ensuring the exit of four-time sitting MLA, state Finance Minister Sunil Deskhmukh, from the seat.
CNN-IBN's Face The Nation debated: President's son to fight polls: Is dynasty firmly entrenched in politics now?
To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were Spokesperson Maharashtra Congress, Anant Gadgil; NCP leader, Jitendra Awhad; MP and BJP Spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy; and Political Editor Hindustan Times, Vinod Sharma.
At the beginning of the debate, 69 per cent agreed that dynasty firmly entrenched in politics, while 31 per cent disagreed.
Family Business
Outside observers seem to think it is highly inappropriate that the President's son is contesting from a Congress ticket in the Maharashtra Assembly polls from Amravati and the fact that a four-time sitting MLA has been displaced shows that this is nothing but VIP culture in politics.
Anant Gadgil kick-started the debate saying he disagreed with these views. "Fifteen years ago, when I was an office bearer at the Youth Congress, Rajendra Shekhawat worked with me as one of the junior office bearers. He continued to work in the district and I moved to state level. I don't think that it is correct to say he has just been brought into the picture recently. He has been a Youth Congress worker earlier," he said.
"If his mother is the President of India, does that mean he should not contest elections?" Gadgil asked.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who had voiced strong concerns over the constitutional propriety of the move of giving the President's son a Congress ticket said, "President Pratibha Patil is the Constitutional head of the country, the supreme commander of the Armed Forces. We are objecting to this move because after adorning this position, certain sacrifices have to be made on her part because it may hinder the neutrality of a person who holds the post of the President. We are no one to suggest to her that her son should not join politics, but she should have seen that he is not in a desirable position to take up the job right now."
"This exalted position of the President cannot be dragged into any controversy whatsoever for any reasons. This is more of a convention, a wisdom of the President," he added.
However, he added that if a doctor's child can become a doctor, or an engineer's child become an engineer, then why not a politician's son a politician - as long as the child can prove his worth and get a ticket on his or her own merit.
"There is a mindset that politics is becoming dynastic because children of politicians are getting tickets, but that is for each party to check that tickets being given out are given to those who prove their mettle. I know of many families whose children have not joined politics. That should come from the conscience," he stated.
Rudy said further that dynastic politics came from when the entire polity was vested in one family. "That is what we oppose. In a democracy, the entire hierarchy cannot be based in one family and the whole politics cannot be usurped," he said.
Lack Of Inner Party Democracy
The question that arose here was that didn't giving tickets to children of big shots disillusion the rank and file of a party.
Jitendra Awhad said, "It depends on how the person enters the party. We have seen Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule working for nearly 10 years before coming into electoral politics. If you make your base and foundation strong and then enter electoral politics, then I think it is justified. Just because they are children of big politicians does not mean that you keep them away just because of the fear of being labelled dynastic. Some of them work as hard as any other workers of the party."
However, it seems as if dynastic politics is something that all politicians want. Take the instance of Narayan Rane who left the Shiv Sena because of dynasty but now wants to set his own dynasty with tickets for both his sons. It seems to be a lure no one, not even the President, can resist any more.
Vinod Sharma responded to this saying, "First of all, it's unfortunate that the President's son has been given a ticket. It's a sad state of affairs that the President is being discussed on national television - that itself should have been a deterrent for anyone who occupies that exalted position to be getting into this kind of a controversy. She is the first citizen of India and there is something called propriety and setting a precedent."
"Secondly, these dynasties that we are discussing, one can argue that they are not autocratic dynasties. In Pakistan we have seen autocratic dynasties, military dictators promoting their children, but I think in India this kind of a trend indicates a lack of inner party democracy," he stated.
All In The Family
It is being suggested that the dynasty syndrome in India is coming from the Nehru-Gandhi family and so every politician feels that he has the right to set up his own dynasty.
Anant Gadgil - one of the few children of big politicians in Maharashtra - has not got a ticket this time. He said, "I didn't apply for one and secondly I believe someone should be an exception to the rule. I don't see any harm in children who are dedicated workers getting tickets. What is wrong if they are rewarded with a ticket if they have worked towards one?"
He said that children of politicians were winning with popular mandate so where was the wrong in this, adding that children of actors become actors and so on, so why the criticism when politicians' children entered the same field?
Vinod Sharma responded to this saying that it was not fair to hold it against those who were winning elections and that they were being criticised because of the feudal mentality of the Indian voters, because democratic consciousness had not permeated and because of the big money riding on these candidates because of the parents' clout.
"I tend to agree with LK Advani on this who once said: 'In a country like ours where there is huge illiteracy, sometimes you need to project faces in order to identify an ideology'. Indira Gandhi's face helped Congress convey ideology to people on the margins. You need those faces which are associated with certain slogans, ideologies and certain kinds of work," he said.
However, he came back to his point about lack of inner party democracy saying, "Most parties make a promise that they will afford people a level-playing field, afford equal opportunities for all in this country. But what are they doing to their own cadres within the party? That's the point. How will they feel that they can't rise because they are not related to a big politician?"
Ahwad responded to this saying that all workers within the party were rewarded. "They may come in the municipal corporation, the zila parishad. There are many opportunities. I don't come from a dynasty, I am from a backward caste, I have no money, but I have reached a respectable stage in politics thanks to my party. Hundreds of party workers like me have been given equal opportunity," he said.
BJP Capitualating To Dynasty Politics
Experts have noted that BJP, which was the highest opposer of dynasty, which was against it all the time, has finally succumbed with the highest number of tickets in Maharashtra from the party going to Gopinath Munde's family.
Rudy responded to this saying, "Well, I think you may have a point there, but at the same point you have to admit that there are many like us who don't come with a family name and we have still made it in the party. I think if a child of a politician works hard, then he should be allowed to rise, but he should not be given advantage over others or patronage. Now, this is for the leader of the party to decide - sometimes at the cost of his public image. This fine line can only be drawn by the party itself."
He added that parties should not deny those who come up through sheer hard work and merit.
Final SMS/web poll: President's son to fight polls: Is dynasty firmly entrenched in politics now?
Yes: 70 per cent
No: 30 per cent
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