Women quota bill and Indian political dynasties

By Shafee Ahmed Ko

Whether women reservation bill will only strengthen political dynasties in India is a fear that has strong ground in the political history of the country which has seen several political families rising and capturing political power.

During the  Assembly Poll 2011 in Tamil Nadu, the state Congress president Mr.K.V.Thankgabalu left no stone unturned to fix his wife Mrs.Jayanthi shifting from Mylapore constituency to Krishnagiri craving for a political hierarchy, and earned bitter fury of the common public.

Even today there are a dozen odd families which have considerable presence in both state and national politics. The female members of such families are ahead in the grab.

When “Rabri Devi appointment as the Chief Minister of Bihar  was considered as one of the most unexpected and awkward decisions of the entire Indian Political history because she was a traditional housewife and had no interest nor any prior experience in politics until then”(wikipedia)  Mrs.Rabridevi Devi ruled Bihar, the bitter widespread cry was that she was under the remote control of Mr.Lalu Prasad, after his infamous fodder scam.

At present there are 59 women MPs. Majority of them are from Congress and next majority from BJP. Out of 556 women candidates fielded in the 2009 general elections only 10% of them are successfully representing now. Our Lok Sabha Speaker, though from Dalit community, is five time winner. However, most women MPs are from high class political families.

On women's bill the worry is if all the 33% MPs are drawn from such dynasties where could the lower echelon and downtrodden have to find electoral opportunities: Merit is agreed.

When the 80% of population is lower classes, we are ruled by 15% upper classes, and mention is to be made that out of this 15%, a particular group of 2% dominate the entire nation by virtue of merit and eliteness.

How many years more will the 80% take to have merits and eliteness?

At the end of British rule, India had only 12 per cent literary percentate. In the year 2007, she has attained 68 per cent. To achieve 56 per cent as an advanced level, India has taken almost 60 years, what counties like China achieved such levels within ten years. Litrtaracy in India means  to read and write. How many years will India need to achieve advancement at par with all elite countries? The great  impeding factor is that stands in superlative in corruption and nepotism.

Have a look at some political families.

The Nehru-Gandhi Family

Motilal Nehru (1861-1931) (politician and lawyer) (Father)
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) (Prime Minister, 1947-1964) (Son of Motilal)
Kamala Nehru, (1899-1936) (wife of Jawaharlal, Congress leader)
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) ( Prime Minister, 1966-1977 and 1980-1984) (Daughter of Jawaharlal)
Feroze Gandhi (1912-1960), (Member of Parliament)(Indira Gandhi’s husband)
Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991) (Prime Minister, 1984-1989) (Son of Indira)
Sonia Gandhi, (1946-) (president of the Indian National Congress party) (Widow of Rajiv)
Rahul Gandhi (1970-) (Member of Parliament and a General Secretary of the Indian National Congress) - (Son of Rajiv)
Priyanka Gandhi (1974-) (Home Maker) - (Daughter of Rajiv)
Sanjay Gandhi (1946-1980) (politician) - (Son of Indira)
Maneka Gandhi (1956-) (politician, ex-minister, environmentalist) - (Widow of Sanjay) - (not of Congress party)
Varun Gandhi (1980-) (politician) - (Son of Sanjay) - (MP, BJP)
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, (1900-1990) (MP and diplomat) (daughter of Motilal)
Sheila Kaul, (1915-) (former Union Minister)(maternal aunt of Indira Gandhi)
Nayantara Sehgal, (novelist and political critic) (daughter of Mrs Pandit)
Uma Nehru (Member of Parliament) - (Indira’s cousin)
Arun Nehru (politician, ex-minister) - (Nephew of Indira, son of Uma) - (not of Congress party)

The Anugrah Narayan Sinha Family

Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, (politician and first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar)
Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Former Chief Minister of Bihar (Son of Dr Anugrah Narayan Sinha)
Kishori Sinha,(former Member Of Parliament)-(Wife Of Satyendra Narayan Sinha)
Rameshwar Prasad Sinha,(father of Kishori Sinha, Member Of Constituent Assembly)
Nikhil Kumar, Governor Of Nagaland (son of Satyendra Narayan Sinha)
Shyama Singh,(Ex MP) (Wife of Nikhil Kumar)
N. K. Singh, Rajya Sabha MP (Brother-in-law Of Nikhil Kumar)
Uday Singh, (Member Of Parliament)-(Nikhil Kumar’s younger brother in law)
Madhuri Singh,(former MP)-(Nikhil Kumar’s mother in law)

The Satpathy Family

Shri. Devendra Satpathy, Two times Lok Sabha MP from Orissa
Smt. Nandini Satpathy,Two times Rajya Sabha member,Union Minister,Chief Minister of Orissa
Shri. Tathagata Satpathy, Three times Lok Sabha MP from Orissa
Shri. Suparno Satpathy, Awarded Social Activist, noted writer,promising young political leader of Orissa

The Mishra Family

Lalit Narayan Mishra, Former Railway Minister of India
Vijay Kumar Mishra Ex MP, MLA and MLC and active politician in Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP (Son of Lalit Narayan Mishra)
Gouri Shankar Rajhans, Ex MP, Bihar (Husband of niece of Lalit Narayan Mishra)
Jagannath Mishra, Former Chief Minister and Union Cabinet Minister (Brother of Lalit Narayan Mishra)
Nitish Mishra, Ex Minister and MLA in Bihar (Son of Dr Jagannath Mishra)

The Ramachandran Family

M.G. Ramachandran, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Janaki Ramachandran, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (wife of MGR)

The Karunanidhi Family

M. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
M.K. Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (Son of Karunanidhi)
M.K. Azhagiri, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers (Son of Karunanidhi)
Kanimozhi Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Daughter of Karunanidhi)
Murasoli Maran, former union minister (nephew of Karunanidhi)
Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister for Textiles (son of Maran)

The Abdullah Family

Sheikh Abdullah, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
Begum Akbar Jahan Abdullah, Member of Parliament (wife of Sheikh Abdullah)
Farooq Abdullah, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (son of Sheikh Abdullah)
Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, former Union Minister, (son of Farooq)
Sara Abdullah, (daughter of Farooq)
Sachin Pilot, Member of Parliament (husband of Sara)
Begum Khalida Shah, President of Awami National Conference, J&K State (daughter of Sheikh Abdullah)
Ghulam Mohammad Shah, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, (husband of Begum Khalida Shah)
Muzzafher Shah, Senior Vice President of Awami National Conference, J&K state (son of Ghulam Mohammed Shah)

The Owaisi Family

Abdul Wahed Owaisi
Sultan Salahuddin owaisi, Former Member of Parliament, Hyderabad.
Asaduddin Owaisi, Member of Parliament 2004 - Present
Akbaruddin Owaisi, MLA Andhra Pradesh

The Bahuguna Family

Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Vijay Bahuguna, Member of Parliament
Rita bahuguna Joshi President of UPCC.

The K. Karunakaran Family

 
K. Karunakaran, Kerala chief minister
K. Muraleedharan, Former State Minister for Electricity and Member of parliament (Son of Karunakaran)
Padmaja Venugopal, (Daughter of K. Karunakaran)

The Kodoth Family-Kodoth, Kerala India

Kodoth Krishnan Nair, State politician-assassinated
Kodoth Govindan Nair, Congress Politician, K. Karunakaran associate

The Ramadoss Family - Tamil Nadu, India

S. Ramadoss, PMK founder, Tamil Nadu Politician
Anbumani Ramadoss, Former Cabinet Minister, rajya Sabha MP

The Kumaramangalam Family (father-son and daughter)

P. Subbarayan (Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu)
Mohan Kumaramangalam (Indian National Congress cabinet minister)
Lalitha Kumaramangalam (Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician in Pondicherry)
Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (BJP cabinet minister)

The Naidu Family

Sarojini Naidu (freedom fighter and poetess) (Mother)
Padmaja Naidu (Governor) (Daughter)

The Mirdha Family of Rajasthan

 
Baldev Ram Mirdha
Ram Niwas Mirdha
Nathuram Mirdha
Harendra Mirdha
Richpal Mirdha
Raghuvendra Mirdha

The Patnaik Family

Biju Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik, son of Biju
Gita Mehta, daughter of Biju

The Pilot Family

Rajesh Pilot
Rama Pilot, wife of Rajesh Pilot
Sachin Pilot, son of Rajesh Pilot
Sara Abdullah Pilot, wife of Sachin Pilot and daughter of Farooq Abdullah

The Lalu Yadav Family

Laloo Prasad Yadav, former Bihar chief minister, former Railway minister
Rabri Devi, former Bihar chief minister
Sadhu Yadav,(former MP) Rabri Devi’s brother
Subhash Yadav,(Rajya Sabha MP)Rabri Devi’s brother

The Nandamuri Family

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao ”NTR”, Former Film Actor & Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh
Laxmi Parvathy, Second wife of NTR, erstwhile leader of TDP (NTR) faction.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu, son-in-law of NTR, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh
Nandamuri Harikrishna, son of NTR, Member Of Parliament, Ex Transport Minister.
Nandamuri Balakrishna, son of NTR, Recently Entered into Politics
Daggubati Purandareswari, Daughter of NTR, Minister of State, Human Resource Development
Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, son-in-law of NTR, Member of Andhra Pradesh State Assembly, Ex Member of Parliament, Ex Health Minister.

The Sayeed Family

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, former Home Minister, India, ex-CM, J&K
Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of Mufti Muhammed

The Scindia Family (former Maharajas) (mother-son and daughters-grandsons)

Rajmata Vijayraje ScindiaBJP
Madhavrao Scindia, son of Vijayaraje INC
Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of Madhavrao
Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Chief minister of Rajasthan, daughter of Vijayaraje
Dushyant Singh, son of Vasundhara Raje
Yashodhara Raje Scindia, daughter of Vijayaraje

The Thackerary Family

Balasaheb Thackeray

Udhav Thackeray, son of Balasaheb
Smitha Thackeray, daughter-in-law of Balasaheb
Raj Thackeray, nephew of Balasaheb

The Pawar Family

Sharad Pawar, Agriculture Minister, India
Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, local politician
Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar Irrigation Minister, Maharashtra
The Chavan Family
Shankarrao Chavan, ex chief minister of Maharashtra, ex home minister of India
Ashok Chavan, current chief minister of Maharashtra
Bhaskarrao Bapurao Khatgaonkar, member of Lok Sabha of India

The Devegowda Family

Devegowda, Ex-Prime Minister, India; Ex-Chief minister Karnataka

H.D. Revanna, Son of Devegowda, Ex-minister Karnataka
H.D. Kumaraswamy, Son of Devegowda, Ex-Chief Minister Karnataka

The Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Family

Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy,Ex-Chief minister, Andhra Pradesh
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, M.P Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh (son of Y.S. RajaSekahara Reddy)
Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy,Ex-M.P Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh ( Brother of Y.S. RajaShekara Reddy)

The Mulayam Singh Yadav Family

Mulayam Singh Yadav Ex-Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh Yadav,Member of ParliamentSon.

The Chautala Family

Chaudhari Devi Lal (1914-2001) (Deputy Prime Minister of India, 1989-1991), (Chief Minister of Haryana, 1977-1979 and 1987-1989) (Father)
Ch. Om Prakash Chautala (Ex-Chief Minister of Haryana)(Son)
Abhay Chautala MP (Grandson)
Ajay Chautala MP (Grandson)

The Bansilal Family

Chaudhari Bansilal Former Chief Minister of Haryana, Defence Minister of India, Railway Minister of India
Surendar Chaudary Member of Parliament,(Son)
Ranbir Mahender Ex President BCCI, MLA (Son)
Kiran Chaudhary Ex Depy Speaker Delhi Assembly, Ex MoS Haryana (Daughter-in-Law)
Shruti Chaudhary MP Bhiwani (Granddaughter)

The Naik Family

Ganesh Naik, Minister of State excise and non conventional energy,Maharashtra
Sanjeev Naik , Member of Parliament
Sandeep Naik , Member of Legislative Assembly
Late Tukaram Naik ,EX-Leader of opposition , Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

The writer submitted this article to twocircles.net on March 9, 2010,and revised certain suitable portions.

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