In the old old days, rajas and maharajas ruled India. Now, it is political dynasties. Dynastic succession in the world’s most populous democracy might militate against the very idea and spirit of popular rule, but Indians merrily continue to prefer sons and daughters of politicians over all others to preside over their destinies as a people.

 Two dynastic successions in the new year occasioned the above thoughts.

 First, in Jammu and Kashmir, the Abdullahs heralded the third generation into command when 38-year-old Omar Abdullah assumed charge as Chief Minister of the troubled state at the head of a National Conference-Congress coalition.

 Omar’s father, Farooq Abdullah, was still keen to head the new government but the Congress plumped for his son.

 Farooq’s schoolteacher father, the late Sheikh Abdullah, had laid the foundation of the most durable political dynasty in Kashmir way back in the late 40s and 50s.

 Sheikh Abdullah headed the first government in the state after Independence and ruled intermittently for several years since. 

After his death, with Farooq heading the state government on three separate occasions for a total period of over nine years, the family business went from strength to strength.

Now, the baton has been passed to the western-educated Omar, while his father replaced him as the head of the family firm, the National Conference.

 Inspired by the lead of the young Abdullah in neighbouring Punjab, Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal lost no time in inducting his son Sukhbir Singh Badal as Deputy Chief Minister. 

The induction of junior Badal in the government had been on the cards for some time, but due to reservations of the local leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which shares power with the Akali Dal, the move was kept on hold.

 However, the coronation of Omar Abdullah emboldened the father-son duo, who reached out to the central BJP leadership to get the nod for the junior Badal to become the Deputy CM.

 Thus, the 46-year-old Sukbhir is set to succeed his 81-year-old father when the latter vacates the chief ministerial gaddi.

 Despite some murmurs of protests, early last year the doting father stepped down as president of the ruling Akali Dal and installed his son as its head.

It is common knowledge that Sukbhir is the de facto chief minister, even though constitutionally he has little role to play in the affairs of the state.

 The induction of Sukkhbir was made possible when his brother-in-law Bikramjit Singh Majithia resign- ed from the Cabinet in view of the ceiling on the number of ministers a state can have in proportion to the strength of its legislature.

 Sukhbir’s other brother-in-law (sister’s husband) Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, son of the late Chief Minister Pratap Singh Kairon, is Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the Punjab government, while his first cousin Manpreet Badal is Finance Minister.

 In all, there are nearly a dozen members of the Badal clan who are ministers and/or legislators in Punjab. Besides, sons, wives and daughters of lesser Akali leaders, too, hold key positions in the government and the Akali Dal.

 For sure, the biggest and most famous political dynasty in the country is the Nehru-Gandhi family, founded by the late Motilal Nehru way back in the 1920s. The Nehru-Gandhis have held the country in thrall for several decades.

 From India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv, the family ruled the country for nearly four decades from the founding of the republic 59 years ago.

 And now 38-year-old Rahul Gandhi, representing the fourth generation of the First Family, is being groomed by his mother and president of the ruling Congress Party Sonia Gandhi to take over the reins of the country.

 Not long ago, almost all opposition parties vehemently criticised the Congress Party for encouraging the dynasty cult in politics.

 But no longer. For, barring the Bharatiya Janata Party on the right of the ideological spectrum and the two Communist parties on the left, every other political party is a family enterprise. 

For instance, in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister and Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karuna- nidhi, 81, has anointed his younger son and senior minister M.K. Stalin as his successor.

 His elder son, M.K. Azhagiri, has been allowed to carve his own independent sphere of influence in a part of the state, while Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi is a party MP. 

In the western state of Maha- rashtra, the newly-inducted chief minister, Ashok Chavan, is the son of the late S.B. Chavan, who was the state chief minister and former Home Minister of India in the 70s.

 The eastern State of Orissa is headed by Navin Patnaik whose party Biju Janata Dal is named after his late father and former state chief minister Biju Patnaik.

 Mulayam Singh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party and a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has his son Akhilesh as an MP, and his own brother Ram Gopal Yadav as leader of the party in parliament.

 Laloo Prasad Yadav, Railway Minister and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, too, had the line of succession clearly demarcated when he installed his wife Rabri Devi as Bihar Chief Minister a few years ago, when he had to demit office following indictment in a corruption case.

 Dynastic succession being the norm, most parties invariably nominate sons and daughters of sitting or former members to contest on their symbols. 

Pundits list various causes for the proliferation of political dynasties. From the ingrained caste system to the lingering effect of feudalism to the stoicism of the Hindu mind, several factors are ascribed.

 Also, given the role money and muscle power have come to play in electoral politics, those with a head start clearly have an advantage over wannabe politicians.