Eknath Shinde, a staunch Shiv Sainik, is a self-made man and does not hail from any big political family. It is told that he was once upon a time an auto driver and has worked his way up in Shiv Sena through sheer hard work and commitment. He is in the news now as most of the Shiv Sena MLAs are supporting him against Uddhav Thackeray, the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra who inherited the party leadership role from his illustrious father and the Maratha Hriday Samrat, Sri Balasaheb Thackeray. This tradition was set to continue with Aditya Thackeray being groomed as the next natural leader of the party being Uddhav Thackeray’s son.
Everything turned upside down when Eknath Shinde rebelled against the way the party was being steered away from their core Hindutva ideology of his guru Balasaheb, partnering with unnatural allies like the NCP and Congress, ditching BJP that helped them win good number of seats. Eknath Shinde was not ready to keep flowing with the tide in order to avoid embarrassment to the first family of the party. Now, it has come to a point that Uddhav Thackeray and his family members might have to step aside and give way to the more deserving.
Given this backdrop, why am I saying that Eknath Shinde is going to inspire the end of dynastic politics in India? This is a warning bell to the all the family run parties today. By dynasty politics I mean a structure wherein a party is run by one family alone and not some Minister’s son getting a well-deserved party post. Let me get into details taking example of some prominent family run parties in India.
Congress is going through a very similar phase wherein the siblings of the older stalwarts of the family are proving to be ineffective for the growth of the party. The party has been going down and down and is very weak today thanks to leadership that got its position in the party as an inheritance. The so called G23 tried to do something like what Eknath Shinde did but lacked the confidence and will. I see a paradigm shift after the Shiv Sena episode. Eknath Shinde would have forced several talented leaders in the party to introspect. Congress top brass will be having some sleepless nights now.
DMK party in Tamil Nadu is another family run party that is structured similar to Shiv Sena with some more complications. Mr. Stalin seems to be influenced by a few of his family members like his son, his son-in-law and his wife. The second layer of leadership are some key families again that want to continue their legacy through their siblings who automatically get key posts in their respective geographies. A time might come when DMK will also go through a struggle similar to the Shiv Sena when some deserving party worker will assert himself or herself, challenge the scions of the first family like Eknath Shinde did and will take over the reins.
TRS in Telangana is another party which seems to be run by one family. TMC in West Bengal also seems to be influenced by a family. In Bihar too, the Lalu Yadav family is ruling the roost. NCP is again another party that will not be able to sustain its parivarvaad and will have to transform sometime soon.
Eknath Shinde might have made these first families quite nervous and rightly so. His standing up against his party’s first family so strongly might indirectly be a warning to all the family run parties today. The message is loud and clear. Reorganize your party to a merit and cadre based democratic party while you have the time, else today or tomorrow your family will be shoved aside by more deserving candidates in your party. It will not matter whose son or daughter you are. Party interests will supersede family interests. Indian polity’s patience on parivarvaad is running out quickly!
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