Comments on: Is family such a bad word?

By: Sumedha

Sumedha — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:18:54 +0000

There definitely seems to be a move away from family dominated culture. The outlook of Indian politics is changing slowly, but in the right direction. The attitude of the Indian public towards politicians is also changing – politicians with a strong track record are being voted to power irrespective of the parties they belong to, examples are Shiela Dixit, Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. I feel that like there is a retirement age in other services, politics too should have a retirement age. The right mix of experienced leaders with young blood is what I think is needed.

By: Sudha

Sudha — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:42:37 +0000

Agreed. But today we are actually seeing a genuine effort to move away from the family dominated culture. Moreover, I do not see performers shying away from parties which are supposedly not democratic- look at people like Shashi Tharoor, or even earlier, Dr Manmohan Singh.

The real issue is we need to have strong alternate political parties at the national level- that is what will pave the way for a more robust and egalitarian political system.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:15:05 +0000

While I agree that performers should be in, family or no family, the fact is that creating a family hegemony is probably a complete de-motivator for performers within a political party. Knowing that family members will always lead the race for the top job, regardless of credentials, is only going to create a larger culture of sycophancy.

By: Sudha

Sudha — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:16:29 +0000

On the point on corporate candidates,unless we have a model like the US, where we have specific roles for captains from industry in the government, I do not foresee any major change to today’s situation. Contesting the Lok Sabha elections requires a lot of commitment and resources, and most often people like Meera Sanyal or Capt Gopinath only end up splitting votes, depsite the right intentions.

By: ramya.rajesh

ramya.rajesh — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:44:33 +0000

I think most Indian families that have traditionally been in politics, also have the means to make a career out of politics.

An example that comes to mind is that of Karthi, Chidambaram’s son.

That is definitely a significant factor – I am not sure how many people from a middle class background will be able to commit themselves to politics without the financial backing that traditional politician families have.

But then again, to relate to Anita’s blog on Corporates in Politics, will we see a trend of openly ’sponsored candidates’? Who knows?