The questions we need to ask ourselves are: How accepting can we be of dynastic politics and should we not have laws that require a transparent declaration of assets of family members of all political partiesIJ

There’s a storm brewing up in Uttar Pradesh in the Yadav family, between father Mulayam Singh Yadav and son Akhilesh Yadav. On the surface, it looks like a political fight, but it is actually a quest for power.

The bitter Yadav vs Yadav struggle for power started in September 2016, when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked his uncle Shivpal Yadav from the Government after he allied with alleged gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari.

Akhilesh Yadav reinstated his uncle after his father Mulayam Singh Yadav intervened. But the threads holding the Samajwadi Party have unravelled with the party clearly splitting between father and son The political fortunes of various parties are poised to change due to this — a split will  impact the BJP, the SP, and maybe the Congress as well.

We can see patterns of this across time and regions. The latest family struggle in Tamil Nadu is within the three factions of heir apparent Sasikala family. The first faction is led by Sasikala Natarajan, another by her nephew and former lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MP V Dinakaran, and the third faction by her brother V Divakaran. There seems to be some reports of her husband also making bids to power.

If we look at the percentage share of dynasties, it is around 24 per cent in the lok Sabha. This seems to be a pattern that’s been in place since 1947: The Gandhi dynasty, the Abdullah legacy in Kashmir, the Badal legacy in Punjab, the Sangma legacy in Meghalaya, the Karunandhi dynasty, and, of course, the Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh.

But how does a political dynasty come into beingIJ A variety of reasons can be given for this. When a person comes to power, there may be a need to share the benefits with close family and protect oneself; the main holders of power may want to mitigate the risks that may occur during their stint in power or after they step down from office; or may use this aspect to gather ill-gotten gain.

So, often, expediency and a centralisation of power is the basis to form a political dynasty. And often, dynasty in political space conjures up images of large families where a number of relatives occupy different positions of power and seem to gain from them.

looking at some of the examples, there have been various articles in the media, where relatives of political leaders seem to benefitted — the case of Robert Vadra and his firm; Sasikala — J Jayalalithaa's companion — was convicted by the trial court under a disproportionate assets case as well as under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code for abetment and conspiracy.

An examination of the M Karunanidhi’s family in Tamil Nadu shows that the entire family has occupied important positions in politics. Karunanidhi has been Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms and the DMK party leader from 1968. Dayanidhi Maran, his nephew, had been the Union Cabinet Minister for two terms, once as Minister for Information and Technology and as a Minister for Textiles. MK Stalin, his son, has been a four-time MlA in the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly and a one-time Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.  MK Alagiri, another son, was a UNion Cabinet Minister and also the coordinator for south Tamil Nadu for DMK.  Two family members, Kanimozhi  and Dayanidhi Maran, have been charged by the Central Bureau Of Investigation for alleged involvement in the 2G Spectrum scam.

YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s family in Andhra Pradesh owns, according to the Telugu Desam Party, 94,038 acres of land, valued at Rs 33,935 crore, and possesses mining leases for over 1,81,079 acres of land with a total turnover of Rs 16,63,400 crore. The CBI, as of July 2016, had already filed 11 chargesheets against him.

The Badals in Punjab are alleged to have income disproportionate to their legitimate means. Their empire includes several transport companies, a hospitality firm, a media business and a large hotel built on a nine-acre plot in NCR

 Often this excess wealth translates into flashy lifestyles for them and their families — luxury cars, hotels, expensive foreign education for their children and grand-children and extended families.

As a part of the extended families, there would be uncles and aunts and well-wishers who benefit, but at the Centre is often the figure of a child or favoured one who is the heir apparent. In the case of the Congress, it has been Rahul Gandhi who has politically benefitted, as his grandmother Indira Gandhi did. Both were not viewed as able in the early years, yet the benefits of leading a large party have been their due along with the other perks that have come with it.

Politics has become a profession which is viewed as being handed down from one generation to the next. A look at the genealogy of many of the young leaders today shows that they stand on the ground built by their parents. Rahul Gandhi stands on the base built by his father Rajiv Gandhi and nurtured by his mother Sonia Gandhi. He currently serves as the vice president of the Indian National Congress.

Jyotiraditya Scindia was elected to the lok Sabha in February 2002 from Guna district, formerly represented by his father Madhavrao Scindia. He was re-elected and also served as Minister for State for Communications and Information Technology and also became Minister of State for Commerce and Industry; later he was Minister of State (independent charge) for Power.

A look at Bihar shows that the lalu Prasad family is deeply ensconced into State politics. lalu Prasad and his wife are both former Chief Ministers. Her two brothers  are former Members of Parliament. Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son, is a Minister in Bihar, and another son, Tejasvi Yadav, is currently Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. lalu Prasad’s daughter is a Member of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha and his son-in-law  is a Member of Parliament

from Mainpuri.

So the key pattern is that while dynasties in politics emerge across the world, it’s especially so in India as a means to hold on and perpetuate and centralise power. This leads to creating patterns of ensuring largesse distributions, especially to children even when the children are merely free riding on the political stature of their parents.

So, the questions we need to ask ourselves are: How accepting can we be of dynastic politics and should we not have laws that require open and transparent declaration of assets of family members of all political parties and sources of incomeIJ

Once this kind of close scrutiny is there maybe the system of dynastic politics for self and family aggrandizement may come to a close.

(The writer is former Director, Central Bureau of Investigation)