Independent India's only significant brush with authoritarianism came during Indira Gandhi's Emergency of 1975-77, largely believed to have been inspired by the ideals of her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi. The race car driving, stunt plane flying and power hungry Sanjay never held an elected post in his life, but that never stopped him from exercising control in any way he saw fit. With no college education and no interest in anything apart from politics (unlike his brother Rajiv who shunned the spotlight initially and was content being an airline pilot), he chose to remain by his mother when she was Prime Minister and was rumored to have an extraordinary influence over her, leading to many undemocratic decisions. The brash Sanjay was accused of forced sterilization (his answer to solve the growing population problem), massive corruption (through the 1971 'People's Car' contract) and generally causing mayhem with his cronies (anecdotes include being caught for stealing a car in London). Indian Politics' Original Brat was seen as many as a future leader, irrespective of peoples wishes. His dictatorial plans were cut shot however, as he plunged to his death from a stunt aircraft (which he was not authorized / licensed to fly) at the age of 34.
He was survived by his 3-month old son, Varun Feroze Gandhi. Varun Gandhi grew up in a less headline-snatching way than his father, and went on to the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African studies to complete an impressive education in economics and law.
In 2004, at the age of 24, Varun decided to enter the political arena and shocked everyone by joining the ideological opposites of his family's Congress Party (quite literally his family's party - from his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru to even his father arguably), the Bharatiya Janata Party. At the time his mother Maneka (estranged from her mother-in-law Indira and the rest of the family) was a BJP candidate and this was believed to have influenced Varun's decision.
However, of late, Varun Gandhi does not at all look like a misfit to the BJP. To the extent that he currently resembles an RSS man, a hardcore Hindutva supporter who went as far as to speak inflammatory remarks against Muslims during his electoral speeches in his contested constituency of Pilibhit. On 16 March 2009, several Indian newspapers carried headlines of how Varun Gandhi's shocking speeches have the potential to cause massive communal clashes. There were articles about many BJP leaders distancing themselves from Varun as well as such hardcore views. Opposition political parties clamored to the Election Commission for a ban, and at the time of writing, the Pilibhit Police have even registered an official case against him for allegedly 'making inflammatory speeches with an intention to create enmity among people on the basis of religion'.
And it is only today that you will realize that Varun Feroze Gandhi truly is the son of Sanjay Gandhi. The action is typically Sanjay-esque. Brash, polarizing and perhaps most importantly, headline-snatching. A cynical opinion might also be to indicate that the BJP is in on this, the media is carrying publicity of this everywhere. TV Debates, online discussions the most favored print articles, are simply talking about the BJP Young Leader's gall to make such remarks. Varun may simply even be playing an electoral game here. With an 81% Hindu population, he can afford to alienate sections of Hindus, and still be able to make the arithmetic work in his favor.
The current discussion is definitely a hot one. While these speeches can cause far reaching damaging consequences to India's internal communal harmony (or lack of), the decision reeks of Sanjay Jr, a ploy to seize attention and ultimately, power.
Will be interesting to see the battle between the next generation of political leaders. These are your Whartons...Stanfords...Oxfords...Cambridge wiz kids coming into politics to make a difference. Parties are clammering (and signing cheque books) to get these Tech savvy well spoken novices to win the urban/educated vote bank. The likes of Sachin Pilot, Omar Abdullah...even Rahul Gandhi are great examples of these successes. Sanjay Jr had better feel the pressure.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Varun Gandhi is even more of a political novice than his more illustrious cousin Rahul. Varun is contesting as an MP for the first time, and while the BJP has earmarked him as a future leader, they have also made it clear that he needs to work harder and for a longer period of time. If the BJP does win, he might or might not get a small ministerial portfolio. By my reckoning, just like his father, his real value will be in the engine room and I think the BJP has recognized this. I would think that they might be seeing him as an understudy to Arun Jaitley and make him responsible as a future leader. And to make an even bolder prediction, I feel that if he his successful in this over the years, the BJP will reward him ultimately all at once by giving him the Top Job. But dont expect this for anything less than a decade.
ReplyDeleteThe New Kids on the Block will definitely be coming. India has urbanized, globalized and overall, as become smarter. Identity politics might work in the rural heartland, but urban politics will largely become result oriented. I wont go as far as saying that the Indian political landscape will fundamentally change, but I do see this small sectional change occurring.
HEY!
ReplyDeleteWell I dont think that the generation "Y" of Indian leaders has the potential to lead a country of 1 billion people . Indian politics has been merely reduced to dynasty politics. Leaders like Sachin Pilot , Rahul Gandhi , Sanjay Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia are all riding on their respective family names. As far as their educational qualifications are concerned well with a bank roll like that it is not very difficult to get a good degree. We must ask ourselves what really motivates these "wiz kids" to come into the political arena : Actually doing good for the country (bah! I doubt it!) , moolah (possible) , Family influence ( hmmm!) , the average illiterate Indian ( arre arre ! rahul toh rajiv ka beta hein , hum ussi ko vote denge "). In order to have a good leader we must broaden our mindsets and move away from dynasty politics....!
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ReplyDeleteJust take Rahul Mahajan as an example! After his fathers demise we had a potential leader..... 2 months later .... a cocaine snorting brat ! This my friends is the harsh reality of Indian politics.
ReplyDeleteI must say, quite a read!
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that Feroze Varun Gandhi withdrew from his MSc programme at SOAS, and hence did not actually graduate from SOAS. Also, Varun Gandhi's connection to the LSE was only through the "University of London External System", which is a distance-learning provision.
ReplyDeleteVarun Gandhi was never admitted into the LSE's own undergraduate student body and he was never a member of LSE's campus..
(Dr. Annu Jalais - faculty at the LSE)
Non of these Baby politicans have a vision for the nation, however rahul gandhi is working hard to get into the core of the problems faced by the nation, we hope that this effort of his become successful for himself and what is more important for the country.
ReplyDeleteFarrukh Qureshi