Shashi Tharoor Criticises Family Rule in Politics, Calls for Transparent Leadership Selection
Congress leader and parliamentarian from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, in article titled ‘Indian Politics Are A Family Business’ raised pertinent questions on the culture of dynastic politics and commented that the trend posed grave threat to the Indian democracy. In the article, published on Project Syndicate, Tharoor says dynasty politics has cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright.
“The belief that members of political dynasties are uniquely suited to lead is woven deeply into the fabric of Indian governance, from village councils to the highest echelons of parliament. But when elected office is treated like a family heirloom, the quality of governance inevitably suffers,” writes Tharoor.
In a clear attack on the Congress , Tharoor said: “For decades, one family has towered over Indian politics. The influence of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty – including independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and current opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – is bound up with the history of India’s struggle for freedom. But it has also cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright. This idea has penetrated Indian politics across every party, in every region, and at every level.”
“Even women politicians who have no direct heirs, such as Mamata Banerjee and Kumari Mayawati, have selected nephews as their successors,” he notes.
“It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based 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 says.
Tharoor also identifies certain traits that are associated with dynatsic politics and afflicts parties across the spectrum. ‘Indian politics have become a family business where leadership is treated as a birth right.’ He contends that political power based on lineage undermines governance and accountability, as leaders chosen this way are often disconnected from the real challenges faced by the people. The bulletin explores the fallout from Tharoor’s article, where he calls for a shift to meritocracy through term limits and robust internal party democracy, raising serious questions for the Congress party and its allies, especially given his past contest for the party president’s post,” quips the Congress leader.
