Fathers and sons, a new genre of leaders

Gone are the days when you needed to be grey-haired to join politics. With the increasing number of youngsters following into their fathers’ footsteps to join politics, the brigade seems to be getting stronger by the day.

Gone are the days when you needed to be grey-haired to join politics. With the increasing number of youngsters following into their fathers’ footsteps to join politics, the brigade seems to be getting stronger by the day.

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The latest kid on the block is Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ram Vilas Paswan’s son, Chirag, who was anointed as chairman of the party’s parliamentary board.

Defending the trend of family politics, the senior Paswan said it was natural for an offspring to follow the career path of a parent. “A doctor’s son usually becomes a doctor and the son of a judge mostly takes to the same profession”, Paswan said.

Among others to soon join the political arena are Lalu Prasad Yadav’s sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap, who were launched in a rally last year.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s son Jaivardhan – a Doon school alumnus – too has followed his father to the party.

In January last year, BJP chief Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj was appointed president of the party’s UP unit while in October, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s son Saket was fielded as the Congress candidate in the by-elections from the Tehri Garhwal lok sabha seat.