Rahul Gandhi may detest it and would like to eliminate it but “family, patronage and money” is the lowest common denominator which counts in
So be it the Congress or the Akali Dal or even the Punjab People’s Party, there is plenty of everything which Rahul Gandhi would like to end. Most of the candidates of all these parties have a family tradition of politics, going to their fathers and grandfathers, they have plenty of money and none of the “serious” candidates are millionaires but many times multi millionaires and billionaires. Most of them have a fleet of latest high-end cars and SUVs and assets which would shame an IIT, IIM graduate, working in the multinationals and foreign companies.
After looking at the assets of the Punjab politicians and latest cars which they possess or the companies in which they have shares and their overall assets, many such bright Indians with the dual degrees of IIT and IIM would start thinking afresh if they made a wrong career choice. And mind you, these are the assets which can be legally declared and are there in the public domain for all to see. If Baba Ramdev is correct about politicians stashing thousands of crores in Swish banks, then imagine what would be the share of
After my Class X, I could not dare to study Science and Biology as I was not good enough in those subjects. My forte was in Social Science and literature. My father wanted me to become a Doctor, like he was, but given my weakness in the subjects which he loved, I could not become one. Now that he wants someone in the family to take over his mantle, there is no one to do so. I am too old to study medicine while my kids are too young to make a choice. Not that I regret it, but the point is that the son of a doctor could not become one because he was simply not good enough.
But no such weakness applies to the sons and daughters of politicians. Whether they study science, humanities, fine arts or do not study at all and remain illiterate, if they have “family, patronage and money”, they can easily get a break in politics. They cannot become doctors, engineers, managers or get into civil services but can become an MLA. At least,
There could be a debate as to which is the first family of the state. Whether it is the
Take for instance Punjab Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh. He is from the royal family of
Now, it is almost a similar scenario for the Badal family, in fact, much better. The family already has one member (Harsimrat Kaur) in Lok Sabha and two members Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal in the state legislature. Both of them are again contesting the polls and the situation is likely to remain the same after the counting of votes in the first week of March. To make it an all family affair, the son-in-law of the senior Badal, Adesh Pratap Kairon too is a MLA and a Minister, now contesting the polls from Patti.
The challenger of the Badals is also a “Badal”. Manpreet Badal is the nephew of Parkash Singh Badal and apart from contesting from Gidderbaha, he has also pitted his father Gurdas Badal against his own brother from Lambi.
Then there is the Partap Singh Kairon family, the Harcharan Singh Brar family, the Beant Singh family and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal family. All of them have been former chief ministers of the state and their family members are contesting the polls to take forward their legacy.
Not only the chief ministers, I found it difficult to trace fresh candidates whose fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, sisters, husbands or wives were not in electoral politics. Out of the 250 odd serious candidates in fray from all the parties, a conservative estimate puts the figures of new comers at barely two dozen.
So family and patronage, so detested by Rahul Gandhi is there in all its glory on
Now comes the money part.
The Pioneer has already reported how polls in the state are a heady cocktail of drugs, illicit liquor and money employed to woo voters. After elections were announced, almost Rs 10 crore has already been seized in
Then see the assets declared and you will come to know why a middle or upper middle class person cannot contest an election in
I referred to Rahul Gandhi’s statement not because he is my icon but simply because as a Journalist, I covered the function of the NSUI, near the Corbett in Uttarakhand, where the scion of the Gandhi family first made the statement about how he wanted to do away with the system of “family, patronage and money”. As it came from a person who himself benefited from family and patronage, if not money, it gave a glimmer of hope that may be first timers and people from various walks of life could get an entry into politics.
But even a beginning has not been made. Things have remained the same, even in his own party. The underlying message is that newcomers and youth should forget getting party nomination of either the Congress or the Akali Dal in
(15.1.2012)
(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer,
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