Inherited politics, but ambition caused rebellion in many families

New Delhi: As parties hurl allegations and counter-allegations over dynasty politics, there is a long list of hereditary politicians in India who have rebelled against their family to fulfil their ambition.

A new name added to this is veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony and his son Anil K Antony. Anil joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on April 6. The senior Antony was a member of the legislative assembly five times and also reached Rajya Sabha five times. He was part of the Union Cabinet thrice and the chief minister of Kerala for an equal number of times.

When asked about his move to BJP, Anil Antony said it was certainly a difficult decision, but “we need to do something meaningful.” He said the Congress, in which his father spent his life and because of which he is recognised, is today heading in a “destructive” direction.

The senior Antony, however, expressed sadness after his son joined the BJP, terming it a “wrong decision”, and said he himself would remain a Congressman till his last breath. Antony was 37 years old when he became the chief minister of Kerala for the first time. There are many other instances where the mother or the father represented one party throughout their life, but their son, daughter, daughter-in-law or other family members joined another party. Bhushan Desai, son of Subhash Desai, a prominent leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) who is very close to Uddhav Thackeray, left the party and joined the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. Subhash Desai had then said his son may have switched sides, but his loyalty would remain towards Shiv Sena, Matoshree, the late Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray. This list of rebels also includes a prominent name from Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family. His younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav left the SP and joined the BJP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2022.

Similarly, Mayank Joshi, son of BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi, joined SP during the UP assembly polls. Prayagraj MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi wanted a ticket for her son from Lucknow Cantt, but the BJP leadership did not listen to her. After this, Mayank joined the Samajwadi Party.

Another prominent name is that of Janardan Dwivedi, who was the Congress general secretary (organisation) for almost a decade and a half and was close to Sonia Gandhi.