In times of an intense debate on nepotism, some political dynasties succeeded in carrying forward their legacies but many heir apparents failed in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly polls.
Senior politician Sharad Yadav’s daughter Subhasini Raj Rao, Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv Sinha, senior RJD leader Prabhunath Singh’s son Randhir Kumar Singh, Mandal Commission report’s author B P Mandal’s grandson Nikhil Mandel and former union minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav’s son Jayvardhan Yadav are among those political dynasties who could not win and failed to carry forward their fathers’ legacies.
The issue of dynasty politics has been a subject of intense political debate, with representatives of each party accusing leaders of other parties of promoting their kin.
Subhasini Raj Rao who contested from Bihariganj seat falling under the Madhepura Lok Sabha, which is considered a stronghold of his father, could not win the seat. She had contested on a Congress ticket. Subhasini lost to seasoned politician and sitting MLA Neeranjan Mehta of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) by 18711 votes.
Luv Sinha, son of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who was contesting on a Congress ticket from Bankipur seat of Patna lost to BJP’s Nitin Nabin by 38965 votes. In Chapra, senior RJD leader Prabhunath Singh’s son Randhir Kumar Singh failed to win against sitting MLA Dr C N Gupta (BJP) by a margin of 7,222 votes.
JD(U)’s Nikhil Mandel, grandson of Mandal Commission report’s author B P Mandal, lost to Chandrasekhar of the RJD on the Madhepura seat by a margin of over 15000 votes.
Among other notable losers are -- Chandrika Roy, son of former chief minister Daroga Prasad Rai, from Parsa. Roy, also the father Tej Pratap Yadav’s estranged wife Aishwarya, had switched over to the JD(U) from the RJD has lost by a margin of 16947 votes against Chhotelal Rai who moved to Lalu Prasad’s party leaving Nitish Kumar’s just before the assembly polls.
In Jokihat seat in Araria district, sons of former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, were pitted against each other. Younger brother Mohammad Shahnawaz, who contested on Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM party, defeated his brother Sarfaraz Alam of the RJD, by over 7,000 votes.
Sadhu Yadav, brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had contested on Mayawati’s BSP ticket, lost to Subhas Singh of the BJP by 36,641 votes from Gopalganj seat.
Jayvardhan Yadav, grandson of former union minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, who had crossed over to the JD(U) from the RJD, also lost toSandeep Saurabh of CPI-ML in Paliganj seat by a margin of 30,928 votes. Hindustani Awam Morch president Jitan Ram Manjhi won the Imamganj seat, but his son-in-law Devendra Kumar lost to RJD’s Satish Kumar on Makhdumpur seat by a margin of over 21000 votes.
However, Lalu’s sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, former union minister Digvijay Singh’s daughter Shreyasi Singh, RJD vice president Shivanand Tiwari’s son Rahul Tiwari and Jagannath Mishra’s son Nitish Mishra are among those who have succeeded to carry forward their fathers’ legacy. Among the other victorious candidates are Sanjiv Chaurasia (Digha), son of Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad, Sudhakar Singh (Ramgarh), son of state RJD president Jagdanand Singh and Alok Mehta, son of late RJD leader Tulsi Das Mehta.