Shashi Tharoor’s Attack On Dynasty Politics Rings Hollow Without Introspection

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has once again stirred unease within his party, this time by writing an article denouncing dynasty politics. He argues that the Nehru-Gandhi family “cemented the idea that political leadership can be a birthright” and warns that dynastic politics poses a “grave threat to Indian democracy”.

He goes further than before by naming both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as examples. It is a bold intervention—but also a deeply ironic one. There is no denying the contradiction between dynasty and democracy. In a pure democratic ideal, leadership should emerge from merit, not lineage.

Yet India’s reality is far more complex. Dynastic politics is not the monopoly of the Congress or the Opposition. The BJP, which never tires of attacking the Gandhis, has its own dynastic beneficiaries among MPs and MLAs.

Across parties, surnames often open doors that remain firmly shut for grassroots workers. Even regional parties, from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh, have built leadership structures around family loyalty rather than institutional development, proving that the phenomenon is entrenched far beyond the Congress fold.

This is an uncomfortable truth, but it is a national truth—not merely a Congress failing. What weakens Tharoor’s argument is not his opposition to dynasty but his moral standing to make it. He campaigned enthusiastically for Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad. More importantly, it was the same Congress leadership he now critiques that allowed him to parachute into Thiruvananthapuram, bypassing veterans who had worked for decades at the grassroots.

The same “dynasty” backed his candidature for the United Nations Secretary-General—an ethically contentious move as he contested against a fellow Asian. It also entrusted him with a ministerial portfolio in the UPA government, a responsibility he lost due to his own missteps in a cricket-related controversy.

Tharoor cannot question internal democracy in the party after having contested—and lost—the election for Congress president. The current party chief may not possess Tharoor’s linguistic polish, but he has been an effective parliamentarian and a steady organisational leader. Merit, after all, is a relative term.

Tharoor enjoyed elite education, global exposure and privileged opportunities that millions of Indians can only dream of—not because he rose from the grassroots, but because of the circumstances of his birth. The Congress has produced leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao, and Dr Manmohan Singh, who had no dynastic crutches.

Even those with political lineage must face the electorate, as MK Stalin did before becoming Chief Minister in his own right. Critiquing dynasty is legitimate. But shooting from the hip does not build national stature. In politics, as in life, credibility comes not just from speaking sharply but from speaking from a place of consistency and humility.

Published on: Wednesday, November 05, 2025, 04:10 AM IST