Politics is increasingly becoming a family business and this is being proved once again in Bihar Assembly elections where a number of leaders have ensured the candidature of their sons and relatives so that power stays within easy reach.
No party is immune to this practice with even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose top leadership has been very vocal against political dynasties, giving tickets to sons and close relatives of Bihar leaders.
State based parties like the Lok Janshakti Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal and essentially family based outfits and the ticket distribution comes as no surprise where close relatives of the top leadership has been preferred to the common worker.
Two of the biggest proponents of dynasty politics in Bihar – LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad – are not in the fray but their parties have been once again in the forefront of giving tickets to sons and relatives of party leaders.
Currently the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has come out with the names of its candidates and so the below mentioned list has most of the names from this camp but the scenario is unlikely to be different in the case of Janata Dal United-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan.
It is almost a certainty that Lalu Prasad, who is debarred from contesting elections following his conviction in a fodder scam case, will pass on the baton to his sons Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav. Even Lalu's eldest daughter Misa Bharti who lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Patliputra to BJP leader Ram Kripal Yadav is tipped to contest the Assembly elections.
BJP has given tickets to son of its two MPs, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and former union minister CP Thakur. While Choubey's son Arjit Shashwat will contest from Bhagalpur, from where the Buxar MP had got elected to the Bihar Assembly several times; CP Thakur's son Vivek Thakur will fight from Brahmpur constituency.
But perhaps the worst record seems to be of the LJP where party chief Ram Vilas Paswan's close relatives have bagged several tickets. Paswan, his son Chirag and brother Ramchandra Paswan are already members of the Lok Sabha. Now Paswan is trying to ensure that the family's iron grip over the party is not threatened by giving tickets to more relatives.
Senior HAM leader and former Bihar minister Narendra Singh’s two sons Ajay Pratap Singh and Sumit Kumar Singh may also contest from Jamui and Chakai respectively even though these constituencies have not been allotted to their party.
This list is partial and as more parties announce the candidates, the number of relatives of leaders contesting elections is sure to rise.
Family power:
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