Are dynastic Families in Politics good or Bad ?

The post of King or leader in Harappan or early Vedic civilizations was not hereditary. The most intelligent & strongest person was selected to become king. But gradually the post of king became hereditary across the globe. But the main problem was that it was difficult to find continuous able successors in dynasty. And weak kings was generally disposed by either aristocrats or another kings and in some cases they became puppets. Among major dynasties across the globe, only Ottomans were able to produce 9 great kings in successions. In India Marurans had just 3 great kings in sucessions & Guptas and Mughals had 7-7 able kings in succession.

Coming back to modern democracies we see many major political dynasties/families in the world. Some examples are Kennedy family, Bush Family in America, Nehru-Gandhi Family in India, Trudeau family in Canada, Satō-Kishi-Abe Family in Japan, Bhutto family in Pakistan and many aristocratic families in Britain (which held power for many generations) etc. But one thing is common in all the families- They produced some of the great leaders like JH Kennedy, Nehru, Z A Bhutto, Abe etc. In some cases 1^st generation was more successful but in many cases 2^nd or 3^rd generation was more successful. These families commanded great loyalties & respect from their fellow countrymen and many of them did a great job as democratic elected rulers.

In West & Japan, if the leaders of the family are good and they deserve to be elected then they are elected. Rarely a leader is elected on sympathy wave for his family. But in Indian sub-continent, things are quite different. Few parties like Congress, Akalis, DMK has become family party despite having a rich history. Another category of dynastic parties in India are- SP, RJD, INLD etc. which was formed as a family party. It is not bad for a son or daughter to follow their parents in politics. If they are deserving then they must come into politics as they can help society & country. But now a days, new generation politicians are being forced on parties & public. A 25 years old & 9^th pass person was selected to become Bihar’s Deputy CM just because he was the son of party president. The family feud in Thakrey & Yadav family is well known.In UP, the first family of SP is everywhere. They have 5 MPs and 3 MLAs and many Zila Parsads & village heads at panchayat level. Akhlesh Yadav has proven himself as a good leader & he has shaken his family. India Gandhi was worthy PM of India and Navin Patnaik has done some fantastic work in Orrisa. There have been many successful leaders from political families but they had an advantage over other starters in begning. The most curious case is that of Congress. Rahul Gandhi is a reluctant leader & doesn’t command hold on public like his family. Even then, the part is behind him despite countless routs in elections. India needs a strong national party like Congress. Congress has many good leaders but no one is allowed to develop as a mass leader except Mr. Gandhi. Same is the case across states in India. Only Left & BJP doesn’t have dynastic leaders at the top among national parties.  But at grass root level, even BJP (where a former tea seller become PM), you will find many MPs & MLAs from political families.

Prihtvi Raj Kapoor asked his son Raj Kapoor to start as a spot boy in film industry. And the rest is history. Why family heirs are not given chance to groom? Janeshwar Mishra was the political guru of Akhilesh Yadav. Former CM Satyendra Narayn Sinha groomed many young political leaders in Bihar like Lalu Yadav & Nitish Kumar in Bihar over his son. I think leaders should look beyond their son/daughter if they find that their family are not capable of serving the party & people. Also young leaders should start from grass root level & work under some experienced leader. I think Rahul Gandhi was denied this opportunity. Even though many of us dislike dynastic politics but we should understand that it is there to stay. Why not we should live with it & elect the most capable leader if a new or fresh alternative is not available. We must select a leader based on his capability not his caste, religion or family. If Rahul Gandhi displays better leadership & narrative for India than Modi, I will not have any hesitation to vote for him.