Upbeat

8226; What About Dynasties?

India has had more dynasties than almost any other nation. At the time of Independence, India had 562 rulers. While those rulers acceded to India, a new set of dynasties has emerged8212;dynasties of politicians. They have reached out to all states and all parties and none is more famous and powerful than the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, where it is now reaching out to its fifth generation.

Respondents were asked if, in their opinion, political dynasties were a good thing or a bad thing8212;and the response clearly showed that Indians are fairly happy to swap one form of dynasty for another. As many as 60 per cent said that dynasties in politics are a good thing.

Rahul Gandhi has just taken the step of entering the 8216;8216;family business8217;8217; by deciding to contest the Amethi seat in the Lok Sabha elections. Should the other GenNext member of the team also have entered the fray? While Priyanka has opted out this time, the respondents, by a nearly 2 to 1 majority, would have liked to see Priyanka join battle.

And in her home state of UP, there is even greater enthusiasm, with 77 per cent saying that they would like her to contest the forthcoming polls.

8226; Regional Satraps as Prime Ministers?

With the polity fracturing and ambitions soaring, it is not uncommon to find regional leaders also aspiring to sit on the big gaddi in Delhi.

As expected, all regional leaders perform better on their home turf than nationally. Among the regional leaders, Sharad Pawar is seen as the tallest leader within his own state. Nearly three quarters regard the Maratha leader as PM material. Chandrababu Naidu, on the other hand, has greater acceptability across the country than any other regional leader8212;probably as a result of his wider exposure outside his home state. However, Naidu should be concerned that his rating as PM is lower in the coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions than in Telangana. He needs to do very well in the second phase of voting if he is to keep his job as CEO of Andhra Pradesh.

The two Yadavs, Mulayam and Laloo, perform relatively poorly in the Prime Ministerial stakes, despite their openly professed desire to occupy the PM8217;s chair. This is probably because of their limited exposure outside their states and perhaps because their own states are not model states as far as economic development is concerned. However, their own electors are more favourably disposed towards them. In UP and this opinion poll was conducted in eastern UP, where 32 seats go to the polls on April 26, Mulayam and Mayawati are the two big regional leaders and they have both openly expressed the desire to become PM. And in this contest in eastern UP, Mayawati has a lower level of acceptability as PM than Mulayam.

8226; Filmstars as Politicians?

Since independence, filmstars have made a beeline for the political scene. Among the nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, you could find names of filmstars but they were the ones nearing the end of their careers in films. However, in recent years, many active filmstars and stars of the small screen have jumped on to the political bandwagon. No longer are they satisfied with being nominated or elected to the Rajya Sabha8212;now they want to be where the action is. Political parties are happy to accommodate them and the Rajas and the Ranis have now been upstaged by the saases and the bahus.

So, what do they think of a Govinda or a Dharmendra or a Jayaprada in politics? For all three stars, the 8216;yeas8217; outnumber the 8216;nays8217;. In Maharashtra, where Govinda takes on the formidable Ram Naik, over 60 per cent think that Govinda will make a good political leader. There is a similar level of support for Jayaprada in her home state, though she is standing for the Lok Sabha from the Rampur seat in UP. 8216;8216;Garam Dharam8217;8217; is also popular with the voters across the various states.

Fieldwork by AC Nielsen