Arun Shourie once wrote that Indian politics needed totems around which the natives could gather, perchance to dance and feast. He was referring to the Congress party’s perennial need for a Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and now Rahul Gandhi.
He could have talked about MGR, NTR, Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, etc. The political parties they led or lead are almost exactly like the Congress in their need for totems. None of them, however, has started political dynasties.
What Mr Shourie did not mention was that this totem approach also involves a strong element of Confucianism, wherein
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