ELECTION TIME IS ALSO FAMILY TIME
Elections are always a family affair with the candidate’s family helping out usually with the backend logistics. But these elections have seen a remarkable turnout of the GenNext actively campaigning for their respective parents—father or mother—as the case may be.
And so we have seen Jyotiraditya’s son Mahanaryaman holding small corner meetings and also interacting with the media about his father’s campaign in Guna. When asked about his own political debut, the Scindia scion says that he first wants to work on his startup, which he hopes will send a message to the youth that they can be employment generators as well. Akhilesh and Dimple Yadav’s daughter Aditi is also helping her mother in her campaign in Mainpuri. Her door to door meetings are drawing huge crowds and gaining a lot of traction on social media, with everyone scrambling for a selfie with the confident youngster. Aditi also came in for some praise from her mother, who talked about the special connect daughters have with their mothers and said this was a good way for Aditi to get to know her roots. In Chandigarh as well, Manish Tewari’s daughter Ineka is taking a sabbatical from her legal profession to campaign for her father, though as she told the media, a majority of her time goes in nailing the lies and half-truths the opposition is spreading about her Dad. Well, clearly a chip off the old block! All in all, it’s a refreshing sight to see the GenNext on the campaign field, whether they choose to join politics or not, is another matter.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF KANHAIYA KUMAR
Congress candidate from North East Delhi, Kanhaiya Kumar’s visit to meet Sunita Kejriwal has not gone down well with the rest of the Delhi Pradesh Congress that is yet to reconcile on the ground with their I.N.D.I.A bloc partner. If you recall, as part of his resignation speech, former DPCC chief, Arvinder Singh Lovely pointed out how difficult it was for him to get Congress colleagues such as Sandeep Dikshit to come out in protest against Kejriwal’s arrest, for it was Kejriwal who had levelled all sorts of allegations of corruption against former CM and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit. But the reality is that probably Kanhaiya is more in sync with the Aam Aadmi Party than his Congress colleagues who were pretty miffed with his candidature from North East Delhi.
For his part, Kanhaiya only has his own popularity to blame because another alliance partner, the RJD was uneasy about his candidature from Bihar. Analysts claim that one of the reasons why Kanhaiya lost the 2019 elections from Begusarai (Bihar) to Giriraj Kishore was that he got no support from either the RJD or the Bihar unit of the Congress. Now it seems that the Delhi unit may go the same way. However, what Kanhaiya enjoys is Rahul Gandhi’s trust, for he has been by the young leader’s side through most of the Bharat Jodo Yatras. And of course, he is counting on the significant Poorvanchali vote in this constituency, from UP and Bihar, that was with the Congress until 2009, but in the last two elections has been wooed away by the popular Bhojpuri actor and current BJP MP in the 2009 and 2014 polls. But if there is anyone who can match Manoj Tewari’s poetic rhetoric, it is Kanhaiya Kumar.
FINALLY, IT’S RAHUL FROM RAE BARELI
After intense media speculation the Congress announced Rahul Gandhi as the candidate from Rae Bareli and Kishori Lal Sharma, a Congress worker who had been managing Amethi and Rae Bareli for the Gandhis was given the ticket from Amethi. On one level, the messaging is strategic as Rahul clearly did not want the optics of a Smriti vs Rahul battle to dominate the media at a time when he is pitching his campaign directly against the Prime Minister. It also sends a message that the Congress is giving a party worker his due instead of exporting another dynast to the family bastion. The names of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Robert Vadra and Sheila Kaul’s grandson Ashish were doing the rounds. The BJP, which has been raising the cry of parivar-wad (dynasty) against the Congress, is stumped by Kishori Lal’s candidature for here is a case of the kaamdar (merit) being promoted over the naamdar(dynast).
However for Rahul there is a larger question at play here—should he win both Wayanad and Rae Bareli, which one he will give up. According to party sources, this is one reason why he wasn’t keen to contest two constituencies, and has apparently told Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge that should he be faced with this choice he would like to hold on to Wayanad. There is some logic in this since the state of Kerala has stood by the Congress despite the Modi juggernaut. And Assembly elections in the southern state are not too far away—due by May 2026. All in all, the Congress should take heart from the media frenzy around the Amethi and Rae Bareli candidature, for it shows the Gandhis can still generate some buzz even in the age of Modi. Even Garry Kasparov has taken note!