Opening the gates for the deserving: It’s all talk, no action from Rahul

By Sanjeev Singh Loyalty pays in the Congress, as does lineage. The script for selecting candidates has not changed much for the Grand Old Party. Party vice president Rahul Gandhi’s grand announcement that he would open the gates for the deserving and the capable remains just talk and no action so far. The list of 265 candidates announced so far tells the story: the stranglehold of the many dynasties within the party continues and regional straps still influence the selection process. Nearly 14 percent of the candidates announced so far are kin of established party leaders. [caption id=“attachment_143830” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] A look at the party’s choice of candidates also makes it clear that loyalty does pay within the party. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son Gaurav has been given a ticket from Kaliabor seat. Gogoi remains one of the party’s longest serving CM’s with three back to back victories in the state since 2001. Party has also given tickets to RJD MP Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjita Ranjan from Supaul, Bihar, slain tribal leader Mahendra Karma’s son Deepak from Bastar while former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla was nominated from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Shukla represented Janjgir in the 14th Lok Sabha and lost to the Congress’ Charan Das Mahant from Korba in 2009. Even though her entry sparked a rebellion with Bilaspur district president Arun Tiwari resigning from the party, the Congress is more than happy to have one of the BJP’s former stalwarts to take a dig at Modi’s coterie. “Things have changed in the BJP after Atal Ji fell sick. I served the BJP for 32 years. The kind of degradation that has happened in the BJP since last 7-8 years is unparalleled,” Shukla said. Gujarat has seen the obvious names make it into the list. Former CM Madhav Sinh Solanki’s son and Union Minister Bharat Solanki and another former CM, Amar Sinh Chaudhary’s son Tushar Chaudhary. Neighbouring Madhya Pradesh has the same trademark families, Madhavrao Scindia’s son Jyotiraditya (Guna) and former deputy chief minister Subhash Yadav’s son Arun from Khandwa. Maharashtra also has its share of powerful political families who make it to the party’s first list as they are all sitting MP’s. Sunil Dutt’s daughter Priya Dutt (North Central Mumbai), Murli Deora’s son Milind (South Mumbai), former CM Vasantdada Patil’s grandson Pratik  (Sangli), Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg) and three time MP Balkrishna Wasnik’s son Mukul Wasnik. “Yes, our family has been in politics for the past five decades. But this is democracy, people have the right to elect whoever they feel can fulfill their aspirations. Look at BJP, they criticize us but themselves promote their families. We wouldn’t be winning if we didn’t have people’s support,” says Pratik Prakashbapu Patil. Congress has been winning the Sangli seat since 1967. It is Uttar Pradesh where the list of dynastic candidates seems bigger with 11 such names. Former state minister Amita Singh’s (Sultanpur) husband and sitting MP from Sultanpur was accommodated in Rajya Sabha from Assam last month after he threatened to move over to BJP and contest against Rahul from Amethi. The mother son duo of Begum Noorbano (Moradabad) and Kazim Ali Khan (Rampur), former Cabinet minister Dinesh Singh’s daughter Ratna Singh (Pratapgarh), former President Zakir Hussain’s grandson Salam Khursheed (Farrukhabad), former CM HN Bahuguna’s daughter Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Lucknow), former Union minister CPN Singh’s son RPN Singh (Kushinagar) and party stalwart Jitendra Prasada’s son Jitin Prasada (Dhaurahra) to name a few. “Why do you ask this question to the Congress only. Ask Mulayam Singh Yadav how many of his relatives are in politics,” says Jitin as he takes a dig at the Samajwadi Party. “BJP President is trying hard to get a ticket for his son from UP. Is that not promoting dynastic politics? Congress is the only democratic setup in this country,” he adds. Perhaps the only states that have not seen names of dynastic families are Karnataka and Kerala where the party has managed to keep this factor at bay. Although Margaret Alva, now Rajasthan Governor, was removed from all party posts for her openly criticizing the party for denying her son an assembly ticket from Bangalore in 2008. She was rehabilitated a year later as Governor of Uttarakhand. It appears the Congress will let the status quo remain as it fights a losing battle for 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Allegations of widespread corruption and price rise of essential commodities and fuel have led to the party’s reversal in Delhi, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh in assembly elections last year. The party has little option but to rely on family “loyalists” to tide through these tough times. And even after 10 years in active politics, Rahul Gandhi will have to wait a few more years to bring about real democracy in his own party.