India, the world’s largest democracy, just concluded the world’s largest election last month by handing a resounding victory to the BJP party. Narendra Modi is now the country’s 15th prime minister.
It’s impossible to understand the significance of this election without first understanding the dynastic nature of Indian politics going back to independence in 1947.
Mahatma Gandhi’s 33 year campaign of civil disobedience coupled with Britain’s exhaustion at the conclusion of WW II brought the freedom that citizens so desperately desired.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi’s right hand man, was a prominent leader in the nationalistic movement. He was imprisoned nine times throughout the struggle for independence.
Nehru persevered and became India’s first prime minister August 15, 1947, thus initiating what was to become the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Nehru held the office for 17 years until his death in 1964. Less than 2 years later his daughter, Indira Gandhi, was selected prime minister.
First, let me clear up common misperceptions (for those not familiar with Indian politics). Indira Gandhi was born Indira Priyadarshini Nehru in 1917. She was Nehru’s only child and is no relation to Mahatma Gandhi…
… she just happened to meet a man named Feroze Gandhi, and the subsequent marriage brought her extended brand power by taking his name.
Indira Gandhi was India’s 3rd and 6th prime minister. She held office for a total of 16 years, first from 1966-1977, then again from 1980 to 1984 when she was assassinated by her bodyguards.
She was succeeded by her son, Rajiv Gandhi, who held the office for 5 years until losing the election in 1989. Two years later, he was assassinated while campaigning.
Rajiv had been a pilot and reluctantly entered the political arena at the urging of his mother (Indira had two boys, the younger son, Sanjay, was killed in a plane crash).
After Rajiv’s assassination, everyone turned to his wife, Sonia, who was also reluctant. She resisted all requests to join politics, but over the next 5 years as the fortunes of the Congress Party deteriorated, she finally succumbed to prodding supporters and joined the political arena in 1997. A year later, she was selected to lead the Congress Party (Note: “Congress” is a political party and is completely unrelated to how Americans think of this word).
Sonia Gandhi has been arguably the most powerful figure in Indian politics for the past 15 years. Here’s the truth about Mrs. Gandhi: she’s full-blooded Italian.
Born Edvige Antonia Albina Màino in Lusiana, Italy in 1946, she met her future husband, Rajiv Gandhi, while working as a waitress in Cambridge, UK.
Gandhi is without a doubt a powerful brand name. However, keep in mind, no one in this story is remotely related to Mahatma Gandhi. Pictured are Indira, her sons, Sonia along with children Priyanka and Rahul (more on Rahul later).
Sonia Gandhi has been President of the Congress Party since 1998 and is the longest serving president in the history of the party. In 2010, Forbes Magazine rated her as the 9th most powerful person on the planet.
As Congress Party leader, she was said to be pulling the strings behind the scenes of India’s previous prime minister for the past 10 years, Manmohan Singh, who at age 81, just retired.
During the recent election, she had been pushing her son, Rahul Gandhi, forward as the heir apparent (he is the great grandson of Nehru). However, the reluctant gene of his parents has clearly been passed down to Rahul. Although being the party vice-president, his lack of skill and desire for the political stage is palpable.
Up until last month, the Congress Party had carried a sense of entitlement. They’ve dominated the political scene since Independence in 1947, holding power 80% of the time over the past 67 years. A Nehru or Gandhi has been prime minister for 38 of those years (you can add another 10 years if you’d like to include Sonia Gandhi’s dominance over our recent prime minister).
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty forms the backbone of the Congress Party, Left to right, four generations of this bloodline: Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi, his son Rahul Gandhi. Again, no one here is related to Mahatma Gandhi.
We have a string of three reluctant Gandhis (Rajiv, his wife Sonia and their son Rahul), all shoved into the political spotlight due to their last name and the linkage back to Nehru.
Just last week, Sonia pushed aside her son, and skipped over her daughter, Priyanka, to select a new vice president of the party, which has been substantially marginalized in the past election.
Is the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty witnessing its twilight? Only time will tell if this is a temporary setback or the end of an era. But for now, at the moment, all the attention is on Modi and the BJP party.
Bonus photos from 1977:
Sticking with the theme of historical political perspective, the following photos were taken in Washington, DC on January 20, 1977, inauguration day for our 39th President.
There they are, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, the first to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
Center are my brothers Dave and John. That’s me in the parka. I was a senior in high school at the time. It was cold, 28 F° (-2° C).
Secret Service men were disguised as clowns and continually scouted their zones in search of any suspicious activity.
Four years later, we returned to See Ronald Reagan in January 1981. I hope you enjoyed this political flashback, from two continents. Enjoy your week. ts
Ukrainian Tom 