Inside Parliament by Derek O'Brien

Author:Derek O'Brien
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2017-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

THE PROOF OF SUCCESS IS IN PERFORMANCE, NOT PRIVILEGE

It’s an argument that comes up again and again, playing like a stuck record. Each time there is an election in any state, involving any party, there is a media debate about sons or daughters or granddaughters or nephews of veteran politicians being given nominations. This is seen as a promotion of ‘dynasties’ and likened to feudalism.

Ironically, some—though not all—of the journalists making these points are themselves the children of former journalists, or from privileged backgrounds, and may have owed their initial entry into the profession to ‘Daddy’s contacts’. This is not an ideal world, but it is a real one.

Growing up as a politician’s child can cosset you from many hardships, but it can also be gruelling and deprive you of all notions of privacy. It also serves to expose you to politics in its most exciting as well as its rawest forms from a tender age. It makes the child choose either a dramatically different profession—as a complete reaction—or inevitably draws him or her into politics.

It is no different for a lawyer’s child or a doctor’s child. They grow up surrounded by the books, debates, discussions and paraphernalia of their parent’s calling. This is the universe they are introduced to and it pulls them in. Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar both have sons who play cricket. Gavaskar’s son had a humble career compared to his father’s. Tendulkar’s boy is still learning the ropes. Cricket was so much a part of their formative years that they felt a natural urge towards it, as well as a compulsion to play it seriously.

Of course, how successful a second-generation cricketer or a third-generation doctor is depends on his or her achievements, not family pedigree. When you are into your second season of first-class cricket or actually practising in a court of law, people—selectors for a team, clients seeking legal opinion—will come to you because of the merit you show and the career you have built. Not because of your surname.

I had a similar experience in quizzing. I got my first break with the Maggi Quiz all those years ago because of my surname and because I was my father’s son. The second contract, and all subsequent contracts, came because my clients and the quiz organizers or sponsors felt that I brought value to the project. My father’s accomplishments were secondary at that stage (though he remained a pillar of support).

It is the same with politics. Thousands of sons and daughters of politicians have chosen to enter public life and contest elections.

Is this first break deserved? No party contests an election to lose; even a single seat is not wasted. Therefore, if a ticket is given to the son or daughter of a senior politician or a late politician, it is rarely out of charity. It is because the party believes that the candidate’s talent, worth, emotional appeal or the associated tug of nostalgia will win him or her—and the party—that seat. If the candidate

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