New Delhi: India must “trade dynasty for meritocracy”, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said in a recent article for Project Syndicate.
In the article titled “Indian Politics Are a Family Business”, Tharoor has said that dynastic politics across party lines poses a “grave threat” to Indian democracy. While this will not go down too well with the top Congress leadership, his statements have been lapped up by the BJP.
When political power is determined by lineage rather than merit, “the quality of governance suffers”, the Thiruvananthapuram MP has argued. He went on to say that the phenomenon is not confined to one party and that the Nehru-Gandhi family’s influence over Congress has long been mirrored across the political spectrum.
“This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every party, in every region, and at every level,” he wrote.
The former diplomat has pointed to Biju Patnaik and his son Naveen in Odisha, the Thackerays in Maharashtra, the Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Abdullahs and Muftis in Jammu and Kashmir, the Badals in Punjab, the Raos in Telangana, and the Karunanidhi family in Tamil Nadu.
Tharoor, who contested the Congress presidential election in 2022, but lost, pointed to how leadership selection in Indian parties is often “opaque,” with decisions made by “a small clique or even a single leader,” allowing nepotism to “trump meritocracy.”
“When political power is determined by lineage rather than ability, commitment, or grassroots engagement, the quality of governance suffers,” he has added.
According to him, many political heirs are insulated from the struggles of ordinary citizens and therefore “ill-equipped to respond effectively” to public needs.
The senior Congress leader has called for reforms, proposing term limits, mandatory internal party elections, and better voter education to promote leaders chosen on merit.
“As long as Indian politics remain a family enterprise, the true promise of democracy – ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ – cannot be fully realised,” he said.
This article is certainly to the BJP’s liking as the party has hit out at dynasty politics before every election.
Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called the article a “very insightful piece” and said Tharoor had attacked “India’s nepo kid Rahul and chota nepo kid Tejaswi Yadav.”
Another spokesperson, C R Kesavan, said Tharoor’s comments amounted to “a scathing attack on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.”
