The office bearers of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) are filled with scions of political families, including DPCC president Ajay Maken, who is a fourth generation Congress leader.
The appointment of Pooja Bahri, daughter of former Delhi Assembly Speaker and four-time MLA Subhash Chopra, as spokesperson of DPCC is another example of the dynasty culture in the grand old party. Other such examples include Vinay Mishra (son of former MP Mahabal Mishra), Jag Parvesh (son of Congress heavyweight Sajjan Kumar) and Vipin Sharma (son of the late Ram Babu Sharma, former DPCC president).
Despite drawing a blank in the Delhi Assembly elections held in 2015, Congress’ Delhi unit continues to bank on the second-generation of loyal partymen.
Other second generation leaders of the Congress who are enjoying good positions in the party are Sandeep Dikshit (son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit), Alan Hasan Iqbal (son of former MLA Shoiab Iqbal) and Sharmistha Mukherjee (daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee, a former Congress leader).
Commenting on the issue, DPCC head Ajay Maken said, “Congress is a 130-year-old party and this is bound to happen… The children of the leaders associated with the party have all the right to join it.”
Maken added: “I am not a second generation leader; four generations of my family have served the Congress party and I don’t think it’s a crime. Even new political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are following the same pattern.”
The appointments in the Delhi Congress unit clearly show that a lineage system rules despite assurances made by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi that his party did not bank on dynastic politics and that every hard working party member could rise to the top.