Gone are the days of dynasties...

In certain countries, especially in the US — dynastic succession has been viewed from different points, and especially so when Hillary Clinton is trying her best to get the Presidential nomination. The stories of the Roosevelts and the Bushes seem to be haunting the US population at this crucial period of time. From the previous dynasties, America may have gained some desired progress for its country, but both periods did not help America in any substantial way and at last, turned against the orderly development of the middle class, which made governance to be placed in the hands of dynastic cronies for the gain of certain special sections of society.

Right from the time of India’s independence, the Gandhi dynasty has been ruling the country much to the chagrin of the Indian intellectuals like Jayaprakash Narayan. In India ‘dynasty’ rule affected practically every part of the administrative wings of the country. At first, power was divided between those who favoured the dictatorial governance of Indira Gandhi and her sycophants. This trend had already started during the time of her father Nehru whose word was law in the country. This was followed by Rajiv Gandhi’s period of rule but he, too, was surrounded by cronies and self-serving political turncoats. Power was concentrated in the hands of a few who wholeheartedly supported Rajiv and his so-called modern policies. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the reins of power was handed over to Sonia Gandhi who controlled the affairs of India like a virtual empress. Her Prime Minister was Manmohan Singh, who was a good economist but never a strict administrator, so fell into the hands of a set of leaders who went on looting the wealth of the nation. As a result, scams after scams weakened the government. The government was a kind of dynastic oligarchy, which at no time was controlled by Manmohan Singh. The country’s democratic sensibilities were affected by selfish ministers, who were never controlled by the poor Prime Minister — the result was total chaos at the governmental level. Having looked at the above examples, it is rather clear that the dynastic rule cannot do anything substantial and durable for the progress of any country.

— The reader is an Indian writer based in Kochi, India