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Instead of having an ideologically driven and carefully nurtured cadre base of emerging leaders, regional parties like SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress, RJD, JD(U) and DMK seem to heavily rely on familial ties, giving weightage to lineage than performance
Mayawati first removed her nephew Akash Anand (in pic) from his position and then expelled him, accusing him of being influenced by his father-in-law and indulging in anti-party activities. (PTI)
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati’s recent manoeuvres have brought her party’s succession challenges into sharp focus. The leader first removed her nephew Akash Anand from his position and then expelled him, accusing him of being influenced by his father-in-law and indulging in anti-party activities.
In December 2023, when she named her nephew Akash Anand to succeed her, there was immediate backlash from party cadres and critics. There have been several reversals since then. While her decision casts a shadow of uncertainty on her party’s future, it also exposes a critical flaw in regional political parties — the absence of a robust, merit-based grooming process.
Instead of having an ideologically driven and carefully nurtured cadre base of emerging leaders, regional parties like SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress, RJD, JD(U) and DMK seem to heavily rely on familial ties, which only reinforces the notion that political survival depends more on lineage than on performance. It also justifies BJP’s allegation of running dynasty politics.
When Politics Runs In The Blood
Mayawati’s case is neither unique nor exclusive. A similar pattern unfolds in other regional parties in other states. For instance, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is witnessing a similar situation where Didi is using push-and-pull tactics to keep her ambitious nephew Abhishek in check.
Known for her larger-than-life persona and populist appeal, Mamata has often signalled an intention to pass on her mantle to Abhishek, who has already emerged as the heir apparent to her brand of politics.
Yet, like Mayawati’s experiment, this transfer of power has been largely symbolic even in the case of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool. There have been reports of continuous friction over power-sharing which, in turn, gave birth to factions or parallel power centres inside the party.
In other instances, Lalu Prasad Yadav handed over the reins of his party RJD to his younger son Tejashwi Yadav which, for a brief period, led to a conflict inside the family, primarily between his two sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi. Similarly, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is still struggling with its almost-absent succession plan, while a section of seniors is pushing for Nitish Kumar’s son to take the position.
The story of southern states’ parties, including DMK, is also not different. The mantle has been passed on across generations, from Karunanidhi to his son Stalin and now to his son Udhayanidhi.
Without a systematic process for leadership development, such succession plans risk turning vibrant, issue-based politics into mere family affairs, potentially undermining the party’s ability to adapt to changing political realities or offer a level playing ground to loyal workers and leaders.
Fuel For BJP: ‘Dynasty’ In Play
Together, all these instances reflect a broader truth in India’s political landscape, especially in the locally powerful regional parties. While dynastic politics may provide short-term continuity, they rarely foster the kind of institutional resilience needed for long-term governance and, in most cases, the successors failed to live up to the status of the mass leaders who made those parties.
BJP, however, accommodates their blood-lines in a more practical way. There are ministers and leaders who have their sons and daughters in politics. They have been made MPs or MLAs, in some cases ministers as well, but rarely are any of their family relations given any supreme or chief position.
In fact, while selecting the chief minister face for Delhi, RSS functionaries were learnt to have objected to the idea of elevating Parvesh Verma to the chair. Despite Verma earning the title of giant slayer for defeating ex-chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the RSS stuck to its point of not promoting ‘Vanshvaad’ (dynasty politics). Verma’s father Sahib Singh Verma was chief minister of Delhi for two years in the 90s.
The instances of mass leaders not ceding space to next-generation leaders in order to maintain control point to lack of vision and an aversion to mentorship.
