Pure nationalism or dynasty politics?

Every time there is a discussion on dynastic politics in India, it has become a fashion to have a mention of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Without delving deeper into this aspect, it cannot be made clear to the political adversaries of the Congress party whether their families were involved in dynasty politics or selfless sacrifice for the nation. A substantial discussion has to be triggered to determine whether their families worked for political favours, power or whether they sacrificed their lives for the sake of the nation.

Out of the 15 Prime Ministers who ruled India since the time of independence, only Nehru, Indira and Rajiv belonged to the same family. In the seven decades of Indian politics, the Gandhi family was only involved in progressive politics and nothing else. Those who are involved in diabolical and fiendish manipulation must stop mudslinging and note that after Rajiv Gandhi, for over three decades the family has never held any power or position but has been selflessly serving the people of this land. In this context, the political analysts must consider how illogical it is to attribute the term ‘dynasty politics’.

Have we forgotten the fact that Nehru went to prison and his entire family put people and nation before personal life and pleasure to free it from the clutches of the British? Indira Gandhi spent a lonely childhood without the company of her parents. It is a result of this kind of dedication that the nation embraced this family as its own and upon attaining freedom Nehru got elected as the Prime Minister in the democratic process.

When British left India, the country was in scrambles. Nehru’s contribution towards uniting all the 500 plus scattered provinces of India to give birth to the world’s largest democratic, secular and republic power is formidable. At a time when India was facing severe financial crisis, hunger, poverty and unemployment and had to depend on other countries for wheat and maize (under PL480 with only 35 crore population), Nehru implemented the Non-Alignment policy to improve foreign relations and augmented the financial cooperation from other countries.

Subsequently India rose from the miserable plight to produce food in surplus for its 130 crore population and export food grains to 65 countries. It goes without saying that the foundation for major reforms and developments that we see today was the policies that Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi put in place.

Given the humungous support that Nehru had from his countrymen, Indira Gandhi could have easily become the Prime Minister immediately after his demise in 1964. However, it must be noted that she didn’t come as his successor. After Nehru served as the Prime Minister from 15th August 1947 to 27th May 1964, it was Gulzarilal Nanda and Lal Bahadur Shastri who succeeded him. Indira Gandhi was elected as the Prime Minister two years after his demise in 1966 through the democratic process and not through dynasty politics.

She even faced the brunt of people’s rejection before the Janata party came to power with Morarji Desai and Charan Singh at the helm. They ruled until January 14, 1980. In the subsequent elections however, she was re-elected the Prime Minister with a thumping victory (352 out of 518 seats) had unstinting support from the countrymen. She nationalised the banks and abolished the privy purses and will be forever remembered as the “Woman of the millennium” and “Iron lady of India.”

After Indira was brutally shot dead by her own gunmen at her residence, her elder son Rajiv Gandhi, a pilot far removed from the world of politics had to foray into politics to fill the void, but not for power. In the subsequent elections Congress party had an unprecedented victory and Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India to serve the country from 1984 to 1989. Even he was assassinated in the end. How can we call this sacrifice dynasty politics?

After him, Sonia Gandhi could have effortlessly become the Prime Minister had she thought of dynasty politics, but the astute statesman PV Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister and laid firm financial foundations for this nation. After 1990, the Gandhi family never held any position of power after Sonia Gandhi came into active politics and from 2000 to 2014 after a long hiatus she worked as the AICC President to help the party win twice in many states as well as at the Centre.

However, Manmohan Singh who does not belong to the Gandhi family became the Prime Minister at both instances and further strengthened the party’s ideology and Dalits, women and minorities were able to participate in nation-building. Since 1998, Sonia won in elections every time she contested and she worked as the leader of opposition from 1998 to 2004. Since 1998 (about two decades) she has been consistently elected as the AICC President for four times. Since 2013, Rahul Gandhi has been serving as the Vice President of AICC.

He is never seen to be haughty about his heritage, but humble and humane. He held various positions in NSUI, Youth Congress and Rajiv Gandhi trust before he got elected as MP in 2004. Clearly, the Gandhi family sacrificed their lives in the interest of the nation. In an era where politics has become a business Sonia Gandhi gave up the opportunity to become the Prime Minister for three times.

Is it sensible to criticise by assigning the term ‘dynasty politics’ to a family that gave martyrs to the country who laid their lives, crushed and mutilated their own bodies for the sake of their country that they loved so dearly? Have the occult and opportunist political species of humans in this country forgotten the long history of the nation’s trust with the quality leadership delivered from the members of this nationalistic family? Have we all become so skewed in our vision that we cannot perceive their pure patriotism?

Will the countrymen ever accept, endorse or appreciate this diabolical and conniving effort from politicians who are determined to malign the Gandhi family to fuel their own personal and political growth? Unlike the present family politics being perpetuated in the state through the means of sentiment and exploitation of emotions, the Gandhi family won the confidence and trust of the countrymen. To humiliate them is to belittle the trust of every Indian throughout the history. Is it not? (Writer is Former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee-TPCC President)

By Ponnala Lakshmaiah