Hyderabad: After the once-dominant Congress lost much of its support base, the South Indian states witnessed the slow and steady rise of regional parties which later transformed into family-dominated entities to a large extent. The DMK in Tamil Nadu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh, the Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka are among the parties that have seen the inheritance of political power from one generation to another.
In the current Lok Sabha Elections, the political families in South India are testing their luck by throwing their weight behind either the BJP-led NDA or the Indian bloc of Congress. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is ruling in Tamil Nadu, has been a bitter critic of the Narendra Modi regime at the Centre. DMK chief and TN Chief Minister M K Stalin has been seen as a staunch supporter of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. DMK has become an important and active member of the opposition INDIA bloc.
On its part, the BJP has redrawn its alliances in South India in a bid to ensure 'certain' win for the third consecutive term for PM Modi. After the Congress dislodged the BJP government in the Karnataka Assembly Election 2023, the saffron party changed its alliance priorities in South India. The BJP joined hands with the family-centric parties in South India in stark contrast to its oft-repeated attacks on the 'dynastic politics' of the Congress. These allies of the BJP include TDP in Andhra Pradesh, JD (S) in Karnataka and the Ramadoss family-led Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Tamil Nadu.
DMK was not family dominated in the beginning and it was founded by former Tamil Nadu chief minister C N Annadurai in 1949. This party has been dominating the State's political scene on the strength of its advocacy for the Dravidian socio-cultural identity. In 1969, M Karunanidhi took over the DMK mantle, which began his family's unquestioned supremacy in the party. He remained its chief till his death in 2018. His son M K Stalin is now the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Stalin threw all his weight behind the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies in the fight against the BJP-led NDA.
During her time, former CM Jayalalitaa's AIADMK gave a tough time to the Karunanidhi family. After her death, AIADMK became considerably weak even as the Sanatan-bound BJP began making vigorous efforts to gain a foothold in the Dravidian-dominated state.
The South Indian parties derive their strength from the two dominant planks - regional aspirations and self-respect. While DMK rose to prominence by advocating Dravidian rights and identity, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) stormed into the then united Andhra Pradesh political scene on the slogan of self-respect. Matinee idol N T Rama Rao founded TDP in 1983 and emerged a big challenger to the Congress by defeating it in 1983. Ever since, TDP became a force to reckon with in AP politics. Later, NTR's son-in-law Nara Chandrababu Naidu took over the reins of power and led the party through electoral successes and failures. His son Nara Lokesh is contesting the present AP Assembly election from Mangalagiri.
TDP tied up with BJP and won the first election in residual Andhra Pradesh in 2014, the year that marked the formation of separate Telangana. Later, TDP allied with Congress in the 2019 election and lost it. In the current elections, TDP joined the BJP-led NDA, saying that the shifting was done in the larger interest of the people of AP. The TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance in AP has emerged as a strong contender for power in the 2024 election to the State Assembly. The BJP had also welcomed TDP back into its fold for achieving its goal of 400 plus seats in the Lok Sabha elections for NDA.
The ruling YSR Congress Party is led by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. He broke away from the Congress in the years preceding the 2014 AP Assembly election. The entire traditional vote bank of Congress including Reddys and Dalits have gone to YSRCP. CM Jagan's father YS Rajasekhar Reddy served as former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh and he became known as the leader of the masses by virtue of his populist programmes like Arogyasri health scheme. After his death, CM Jagan has benefitted from the surge of YSR sentiment and he went on to win the 2019 AP Assembly election when TDP, BJP and Jana Sena contested the elections separately.
In the current AP Assembly poll, CM Jagan is facing multiple rivals from both within his family and outside who are bent on throwing him out of power. CM Jagan's own sister Y S Sharmila has become the Congress party AP State president and launched a no-holds-barred attack on him. Sharmila is contesting as Congress candidate in the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency as well. Also, Jagan's cousin Sunitha Reddy, who is daughter of the slain Y S Vivekananda Reddy, is campaigning with a vengeance against CM Jagan, accusing him of rescuing the main accused in her father's murder case. CM Jagan has been on bail through the last five years of his rule in the multi-crore illegal assets cases investigated by the CBI and the ED. He is said to have received some support from the ruling BJP at the Centre in this respect. But this time, the BJP has joined hands with the TDP, which is seen as a setback for CM Jagan, whose party was stated to have unsuccessfully tried to prevent the coming together of BJP and TDP.
In Telangana, Bharat Rashtra Samiti led by former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is completely dominated by his family. KCR's son K T Rama Rao and his nephew Harish Rao were ministers in his previous cabinet. KCR lost the 2023 Telangana Assembly Election with the rivals campaigning heavily against the alleged family dominance in all aspects of administration in the KCR regime. Also, the BJP made inroads in Telangana by taking its fight against the so-called 'dynasty politics' of both Congress and BRS. In the current LS polls, political experts foresee an existential threat to KCR's party with both the Congress and the BJP vowing to finish it off in the state political scene.
All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is another family-driven party which is mainly concentrated in the Muslim-dominated Old City of Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state. Three generations of the Owaisi family have been dominating this party. Abdul Wahed Owaisi passed on the mantle to his son Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi from whom sitting Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has inherited the party leadership. As of now, AIMIM has risen to expand its presence beyond Telangana and into Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other States.
Karnataka had seen the family-dominated Janata Dal (Secular) commanding a strong political influence in the state through the years. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda broke away from Janata Dal and founded Janata Dal (S) in 1999. His son Kumaraswamy Gowda served as a former chief minister. Deve Gowda's other son H D Revanna also served as a former minister. In the current Lok Sabha elections, the JD (S) has allied with the BJP in Karnataka, stating that it is determined to eliminate the Congress from the state's political scene. On the other hand, Congress leader and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah mounted an unsparing attack, saying that the JD (S) cannot claim to be secular any more since it has joined hands with the 'communal' BJP.
In Kerala, the ruling Left leadership has also come in for criticism from the BJP over family-centric politics. This has been with particular reference to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan's company allegedly getting benefitted in a deal involving Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL). Following this, the BJP has equated the Left leadership with the Congress in furthering the interests of one family ignoring those of crores of other common families.
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