Is India sliding into a hereditary monarchy?

Is India sliding into a pseudo monarchy of sorts? In his splendid new book, India: A Portrait, historian Patrick French dredges up some startling data on the stranglehold of family and lineage on Indian politics.

The research finds that though less than a third of India's parliamentarians had a hereditary connection, things get worse with the younger MPs. Consider this:

• Every MP in the Lok Sabha or the lower house of the Indian parliament under the age of 30 had inherited a seat.

• More than two thirds of the 66 MPs aged 40 or under are hereditary MPs.

• Every Congress MP under the age of 35 was a hereditary MP.

• Nearly 40% of the 66 ministers who are members of the Lok Sabha were hereditary members.

• Nearly 70% of the women MPs have family connections.

Interestingly, for MPs over 50, the proportion with a father or relative in politics was a rather modest 17.9%. But when you looked at those aged 50 or under, this increased by more than two and a half times to nearly half, or 47.2%.

Also most of the younger hereditary MPs - and ministers - have not made a mark and sometimes have been shockingly conservative in their actions. A young MP from feudal Haryana, for example, was seen to be cosying up to extra-constitutional village councils in the state which were punishing couples for marrying outside their caste and clan.

"If the trend continued," concludes French, "it was possible that most members of the Indian Parliament would be there by heredity alone, and the nation would be back to where it had started before the freedom struggle, with rule by a hereditary monarch and assorted Indian princelings." He also worries the next Lok Sabha will be a "house of dynasts".

Most agree that growing nepotistic and lineage-based power in the world's largest democracy is a matter of concern. "The idea of India," political scientist Mahesh Rangarajan told me, "is rent apart by these two contradictory impulses."

But nepotism is a part of India life; and politics mirrors society. Power, wealth, land and status have hinged to a large extent on who your parents were, what they owned and where they stood in society. Most Indian businesses continue to be owned and run by families though the new economy is throwing up more first generation entrepreneurs. Bollywood, India's thriving film industry, is dominated by sons and daughters of famous actors and producers. Three members of one family - Nehru-Gandhi - have held the post of prime minister. If the Congress party wins the next elections and PM Manmohan Singh steps down, there is a likelihood of the dynast Rahul Gandhi becoming India's next prime minister. (It is no surprise that 37% of the MPs - 78 of 208 - in Congress are hereditary compared to only 19% hereditary MPs - 22 of the 116 - in the main opposition BJP.)

Despite French's troubling data, all may not be lost. "Please remember," Dr Rangarajan told me, "the MPs have lineage as a huge plus, but the posts are not hereditary." In other words, if they fail to deliver, they will be voted out of power. Merit triumphed over dynasty in the recent elections in dirt-poor Bihar. So though lineage remains a key factor in politics, remind analysts, it can only give a headstart, and nothing more. Thank democracy for that.

Reference:BBC-Soutik Biswas | 09:18 UK time, Tuesday, 18 January 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2011/01/is_india_sliding_into_a.html

Top 100 Wonders of the World

Top 100 Wonders of the World
Wonders of World
Pyramids of Egypt at Giza	Egy
Great Wall of China	China
Taj Mahal	India
Serengeti Migration	Kenya & Tanzania
Galapagos Islands	Ecuador
Grand Canon	USA
Machu Picchu	Peru
Iguazu Falls	Argentina & Brazil
Bali	Indonesia
Amazon Rain Forest	Brazil & Peru
Ngorongoro Crater	Tanzania
Great Barrier Reef	Australia
Angkor Wat	Cambodia
Victoria Falls	Zambia & Zimbabwe
Forbidden City	China
Bagan Temples & Pagodas	Myanmar
Karnak Temple	Egypt
Teotihuacan	Mexico
Banaue Rice Terraces	Philippines
Bora Bora	Polynesia
Acropolis/Parthenon	Greece
Potala Place at Lhasa	China
Jerusalem Old City	Israel
Qin Terra Cotta Warriors	China
Chichen Itza	Mexico
Petra	Jordan
Nile River Cruise	Egypt
Easter Island	Chile
Cappadocia	Turkey
Colosseum of Rome	Italy
Fjords of Norway	Scandinavia
St. Peter's Basilica	Vatican City
Egyptian Museum	Egypt
Borobudur	Indonesia
Valley of the Kings	Egypt
Hong Kong Harbor/City Scape	China
Sistine Chapel	Vatican City
Alhambra	Spain
Louvre Museum	France
Canals of Venice	Italy
Versailles	France
Carlsbad Caverns	USA
Mecca	Saudi Arabia
Kathmandu Valley	Nepal
Metropolitan Museum	USA
Mount Everest	China & Nepal
Temple of the Emerald Buddha	Thailand
Hagia Sophia	Turkey
Pompeii	Italy
Kashmir Valley	India
Prague Old Town	Czech Republic
Golden Temple	India
Amalfi Drive	Italy
Meenakshi	India
Chartres Cathedral	France
Mezquita of Cordoba	Spain
Damascus Old City & Umayyad	Syria
Dubrovnik	Croatia
Uffizi Gallery	Italy
Rio Panoramic Views	Brazil
Golden Pavilion	Japan
Delphi	Greece
St. Basil's Cathedral	Russia
Abu Simbel	Egypt
St. Mark's Basilica & Campanile	Italy
Florence Cityscape	Italy
Kremlin	Russia
Varanasi/Ganges	India
Li River Cruise	China
Shwedagon Stupa	Myanmar
Sahara Desert	Multinational Travel Wonder
Leaning Tower of Pisa	Italy
Baalbek	Lebanon
Mont-St-Michel	France
Topkapi Palace	Turkey
Carnival in Rio	Brazil
Stonehenge	England
Angel Falls	Venezuela
Yellowstone National Park	USA
Santorini	Greece
Petronas Twin Tower	Malaysia
Matterhorn	Switzerland
New York Skyline	USA
Marrakesh	Morocco
Eiffel Tower	France
Ladakh	India
Niagara Falls	Canada & USA
British Museum	England
Burg Al Arab	Dubai, UAE
Antarctica Penguins	Antarctica
Yangtze River Cruise	China
Yosemite National Park	USA
Ayers Rock	Australia
Chambord Chateau	France
Temple of Heaven	China
Neuschwanstein Castle	Germany
Suez Canel	Egypt
San Francisco Bay/Cityscape	USA
Dead Sea	Israel & Jordan
Portofino	Italy