Letters: All in the family?

In his editorial on democracy and the republic T N Ninan ends his column complaining, “Again, it is surely a violation of the republican spirit if a political plutocracy reigns supreme, irrespective of what happens in successive elections. Some two dozen politicians and their families (mini-dynasties, some of them) dominate the political scene in the country, swinging in and out of office periodically as one plutocrat makes way for the next and then makes a comeback.”

This point is contentious. The failure of our institutions to uphold the principles of law has nothing to do with a few families making politics their family business. Ninan should reflect on the fact that irrespective of who becomes a chief minister or minister in the Union or state cabinet, all of them are perceived as corrupt.

It is the legitimate right of every family to specialise in a particular business; doctors beget doctors, architects beget architects, traders beget traders and so on. In politics as in acting families are using their experience to train the next generation. What is wrong with this?

In any case, as Ninan himself has pointed out, India is changing. There is a new generation out there with different expectations from politicians. The politics of development that he and Aditi Phadnis first highlighted in Business Standard vis-a-vis Bihar is taking over. Given a Nitish Kumar in every state, which of these plutocracies would get elected?

Saurabh Sharma, Chennai

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