Dynasts dominate Bihar polls: List of parties full of politicians' kin

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Dynasts continue to dominate Bihar's political landscape, with a considerable number of candidates being either sons, daughters, wives or close relatives of established politicians.

Experts say that no party in Bihar can claim moral superiority on this ground as far as dynasts entering politics is concerned.

The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and results will be announced on November 14.

Prominent sons, daughters and wives, who are in the fray, from different political parties are RJD's Tejashwi Yadav (younger son and heir apparent of party supremo Lalu Prasad) from Raghopur, BJP's Samrat Choudhary (son of former minister Shakuni Choudhary) from Tarapur, RJD's Osama Shahab (son of gangster-turned-politician, the late Mohammad Shahabuddin) from Raghunathpur.

Also in the fray are Rashtriya Lok Morcha's Snehlata (wife of party chief Upendra Kushwaha) from Sasaram, BJP's Nitish Mishra (son of former CM Jagannath Mishra) from Jhanjharpur, HAM's Deepa Manjhi (daughter-in-law of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi) from Imamganj, Jan Suraaj's Jagriti Thakur (granddaughter of legendary socialist leader Karpoori Thakur) from Morwa and Chanakya Prasad Ranjan (son of JD(U) Banka MP Girdhari Prasad Yadav), who filed his nomination papers as RJD candidate from Belhar seat.

Besides, JD(U)'s Komal Singh (daughter of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)'s MP Veena Devi) is contesting from Gaighat, JD(U)'s Chetan Anand (son of party MP Lovely Anand) from Nabinagar, Nitin Nabin (son of late BJP leader Nabin Kishore Sinha) from Bankipore, Sanjeev Churasai (son of BJP leader Ganga Prasad Chaurasia) from Digha and Rahul Tiwary (son of RJD veteran Shivanand Tiwary) from Shahpur.

Also contesting are Rakesh Ojha (son of BJP leader, the late Visheshwar Ojha) from Shahpur, Veena Devi (wife of Surajbhan Singh, who recently joined RJD) from Mokama and Shivani Shukla (daughter of RJD strongman Munna Shukla) from Lalganj.

Commenting on dynasts entering politics, Vidyarthi Vikas, Assistant Professor (Economics), A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies (Patna), told PTI, "The way dynasts are entering politics, it shows that now all political parties are least bothered about ideological commitments, constitutional values and also democratic principles."  "People should raise their voices against dynasts, who easily enter politics because they belong to established political families. This is also happening because education has never been given priority in Bihar in the last 77 years," he said.

No party in Bihar can claim moral superiority on this ground as far dynasts entering politics is concerned, he added.

"The education level of the rural population in Bihar is very low. As per the latest caste survey, only 14.71 per cent per cent of the population in Bihar has cleared class 10 exams... They are not politically aware and that is the reason, political parties take benefit of less educated voters and allow dynasts to enter the electoral fray," Vikas added.

RJD state unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary told PTI, "It is true that a simple party worker can't think of contesting elections these days. At the same time, general party workers are not given priority when glamour has become an intrinsic part of every Indian election."  It is also a fact that unbridled use of funds by candidates and political parties has made the playing field for elections uneven, he added.

Bihar BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar told PTI, "BJP gives importance to only those leaders and workers who have done organisational work, and those who are competent and committed towards 'jan seva' (serving the people)."  "One can take the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has worked at every level of the party's organisation. Our PM comes from a very simple background," he added.