Two is trouble in most dynastic political outfits. Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) founder K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who has raised the flag of rebellion against her father is only the latest in a long line of politicians who found it difficult to reconcile with the leadership preference of their father/uncle/brother who founded the party to which they belong. The DMK, Shiv Sena, and Samajwadi Party experienced succession turbulence, and the RJD recently saw a milder
Two is trouble in most dynastic political outfits. Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) founder K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who has raised the flag of rebellion against her father is only the latest in a long line of politicians who found it difficult to reconcile with the leadership preference of their father/uncle/brother who founded the party to which they belong. The DMK, Shiv Sena, and Samajwadi Party experienced succession turbulence, and the RJD recently saw a milder version of it. Some see the shadow of a daughter-nephew tussle in the developments in the NCP, now divided into two groups. Kavitha has given a sheen of ideology to the dispute while questioning KCR’s silences on controversial issues. In a recent letter, she criticised his style of functioning and added that KCR is “like a god who is surrounded by some devils”. These “devils”, she said, proposed to merge BRS with the BJP, which she disapproved of. This is understandable since Kavitha served time in prison after central agencies booked her in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The BRS leadership, plagued by desertions and corruption cases, has refuted Kavitha’s merger allegations. What is unsaid in this family drama is Kavitha’s discomfort with the succession dynamic in BRS: KCR’s son, KT Rama Rao (KTR), is now the working president of BRS.
History tells us that these succession battles rarely end amicably: The party splits or the challenger is forced out. For instance, MK Alagiri, the elder son of M Karunanidhi, was expelled from the DMK for challenging his brother MK Stalin’s leadership claim. Shivpal Yadav, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother, Raj Thackeray, and even Tej Pratap Yadav may narrate stories of being eased out for refusing to accept the founder’s succession plan. They may even offer ideological reasons for their rebellion. However, the fault mostly lies in leaders perceiving political parties as family inheritances, and not as democratic platforms that arose from issue-based mass mobilisations. This affliction is now plaguing BRS.
One Subscription.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines
to 100 year archives.
Archives
HT App & Website