Inherited politics, but ambition caused rebellion in many families

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.

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When PTI-Bhasha asked Anil Antony about his move to BJP, he 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. His son Sameer Dwivedi joined the BJP in February 2020.

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Father in one party and sons in other parties. The biggest example of this is seen in Haryana. The two sons of Indian National Lok Dal founder and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala are associated with different parties.

His elder son Ajay Singh Chautala and his grandson Dushyant Chautala formed the Jannayak Janata Party after differences in the family. Dushyant is currently the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana.

Om Prakash Chautala's younger son Abhay Singh Chautala is currently INLD's principal general secretary. These days, he is leading the Haryana Parivartan Yatra. Recently, Om Prakash Chautala also participated in this yatra.

Somewhat similar is the story of the ruling YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is the president of YSR Congress. His sister Sharmila, who was with him for a long time, has formed her own party, YSR Telangana Party. Jagan's mother resigned as honorary president of the YSR Congress and joined her daughter in her endeavour. Sharmila's party is mainly active in Telangana.

It's the same with Apna Dal, a regional party in Uttar Pradesh, founded by Sonelal Patel, a prominent leader of the Kurmi community. After his death, a struggle ensued in the family over his successor, which continues till date.

Apna Dal is currently divided into two factions. One is headed by Anupriya Patel, while the other is led by her elder sister Pallavi Patel.

Anupriya Patel is a minister in the central government, while Pallavi joined the SP during the last UP assembly elections. Pallavi Patel contested from Sirathu assembly and defeated Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who is counted among the tallest leaders of Uttar Pradesh, is in the SP, while his daughter Sanghamitra Maurya is a BJP MP.

In the list of families where the father rebelled, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's name is bound to figure. He reached the BJP through the Janata Party, Janata Dal, but after Narendra Modi became the prime minister, he was disillusioned with the party and later joined the Trinamool Congress. His son Jayant remained in the BJP.

Indian political families have a long history of rebellion.

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However, the most prominent among them was the rebellion of Maneka Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Separating from the family, in 1982, she formed 'Sanjay Vichar Manch' in the name of her husband Sanjay Gandhi. Later it merged with Janata Dal. She also contested against Rajiv Gandhi as an independent candidate but was unsuccessful.

In the year 2004, she joined BJP along with her son Varun Gandhi.