Dynasty Watch

Scions fill the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh this time, belonging to both the state's political as wel...

Scions fill the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh this time, belonging to both the state’s political as well as royal families. Over 10 princes and princesses alone are in the fray from different political parties, with the BSP perhaps being the only exception. The Congress leads the dynasty brigade, followed by the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

The mother of all contests, of course, is in Amethi, between a political dynasty and a royal one. Here, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is taking on the prince of the erstwhile estate and a BJP nominee, Sanjay Singh. Singh’s supporters are going around claiming that it was his father, the former Raja of Amethi, who had allowed the Nehru-Gandhi family to contest from the seat out of benevolence.

In nearby Pratapgarh, Rajkumari Ratna Singh, the daughter of former Union minister and Raja of Kalakankar Dinesh Singh, is in the race against Abhay Pratap Singh, the son of former king of the region Ajit Pratap Singh. Abhay is fighting on the BJPticket. The party decision is not surprising considering that this seat has elected a royal family scion eight times since 1952. At times when no one with blue blood is contesting, the electorate tends to support a candidate supported by royal families.

In Kanpur, the Congress has gone for another royal, Begum Noor Bano. She is the wife of Nawab of Rampur Mikki Mian and is pitted against the only Muslim Union minister in the BJP Government at the Centre, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Begum Bano has represented the constituency a number of times, all on the strength of her royal links.

Among the political families, both the daughter and son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna are trying to enter the Lok Sabha on the Congress ticket. Daughter Rita Bahuguna Joshi is taking on senior BJP leader and Union Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi at Allahabad. While son Vijay Bahuguna is giving a tough fight to another royal family scion, Manvendra Shah, of the BJP in theTehri-Garhwal hills.

The grandson of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Vibhakar, is in the fray too, trying his chances for the first time. He is contesting on the Congress ticket from Fatehpur.

— Amit Sharma