Associate Sponsors

Lok Sabha elections: Meet the sons and daughters of political families

Karnataka has become a hotbed for political dynasties, with the Congress fielding five candidates who are either sons or daughters of current ministers in the Congress-led Karnataka government

BJP Congress, political party, congress — Representational Image

Archis Mohan New Delhi

2 min read Last Updated : Mar 24 2024 | 11:40 PM IST

Across political parties, daughters, sons, and sons-in-law of several established politicians are looking to make their Lok Sabha election debut this year.

In Delhi, Bansuri Swaraj, a lawyer and daughter of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj, will represent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the New Delhi constituency.

In Karnataka, the BJP has chosen C N Manjunath, a surgeon and son-in-law of former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Deve Gowda, to run in the Bengaluru Rural constituency.

The Congress has selected Radhakrishna Doddamani, son-in-law of the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, to contest the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat — a seat Kharge lost in 2019, marking his first electoral defeat in a 60-year political career.

Karnataka has become a hotbed for political dynasties, with the Congress fielding five candidates who are either sons or daughters of current ministers in the Congress-led Karnataka government.

In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) may introduce another member of Lalu Prasad’s family to politics — his daughter, Rohini Acharya. Rohini has recently expressed her intention to enter the electoral fray.

In Uttarakhand, the Congress has chosen Virender Rawat, son of former state chief minister Harish Rawat, to run in Haridwar. The party has also fielded Tanuj Punia, son of former Rajya Sabha member P L Punia, in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki, and Guddu Raja Bundela, son of two-time former Congress MP Sujan Singh Bundela, in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar.

In Maharashtra, Pankaja Munde will take over from her sister, Preetam Munde, a two-term Lok Sabha MP, as the BJP candidate for the Beed constituency. They are the daughters of former Union minister Gopinath Munde. The Congress has chosen Praniti Shinde to run in Solapur, a seat her father, Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, lost in both 2014 and 2019, after representing it three times. In Akola, Anup Dhotre will replace his father, current Akola MP Sanjay Dhotre.