Title: Dynastic Ambition
Author: Kedar Nath Sharma
Publisher: The White Place
Pages: 358; Price: Rs 499
The Lok Sabha elections of 2019 is less than two months away and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has repeatedly emphasised the need to declutter ‘Politik’ from the hands of few families. Exploring the sentiment, author Kedar Nath Sharma’s book, Dynastic Ambition, attempts to exfoliate the politics in and around the Nehru-Gandhi family. Maybe due to the opacity surrounding the family, especially in recent times, the author has shared limited anecdotes related to the family and dwells more on Indian politics in general.
The book highlights Jawaharlal Nehru as a flag-bearer of nepotism. Sharma argues that Nehru, despite being worshipped as the god who saved Indian democracy, was discreetly promoting his daughter Indira Gandhi.
The author points at the Kamraj plan, where seniors minister were relocated to states, as the brainchild of Nehru, to make space for Indira Gandhi. Furthermore, the author quotes various speeches by Nehru in the last two years of his life, where he had mentioned Indira Gandhi as his successor.
However, the attempt to promote family was more covert under Nehru than during Indira’s regime. Promoting her other son Rajiv Gandhi at the cost of her daughter-in-law Maneka, after Sanjay’s death, were done without any remorse by Indira Gandhi, argues the author. The daughter of the “greatest democrat” had crushed democratic institutions and processes for the sake of family, highlights the author.
But more than Nehru and Indira, the author depicts the significant role of Sonia Gandhi in promoting the family, when the legacy was in disarray. After Rajiv Gandhi’s death, many power centres had raised their heads. According to him, Sonia’s entry in politics was only to protect and promote Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s future.
Throughout the course of the book, the author has highlighted major historical events that shaped the future of the nation. However, the author deviates several times to the politics of Delhi, rather than focusing on the dynasty. That is why the name Dynastic Ambition is misplaced. The book comes across as detailed and researched, but the author has derailed from his objective. The current version comes out as a detailed historic transcript with limited occasions for dynasty promoting political nepotism.
A little less of history and more anecdotes about dynasty would have worked fine. But if the reader wants to understand the nuances of political history after Independence, Dynastic Ambition by Kedar Nath Sharma is just the right choice.