NK SINGH
There is not a single chief minister of Madhya Pradesh whose son or close relative did not join politics. The state had 15 chief ministers before Shivraj Singh Chouhan
assumed office in 2005. The sons and relatives of every single CM have dabbled in political arena.
Congress in MP is led by second generation and third
generation politicians.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who aspires to lead Congress at
hustings, has entered politics following the footsteps of grandmother
Vijayaraje Scindia and father Madhavrao Scindia.
His is a political clan. One aunt, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, is CM of Rajasthan. Another aunt, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, is a minister in MP. Cousin Dushyant Singh - Vasundhara's son - is a member of
parliament. His father's maternal aunt, Maya Singh, is also a member of Shivraj cabinet.
Leader of opposition Ajay Singh is also a third generation
politician. His father, Arjun Singh, was MP’s CM thrice and grandfather Shiv
Bahadur Singh was a minister in erstwhile Vindhya Pradesh. MPCC chief Arun
Yadav’s father, Subhash Yadav, was deputy chief minister of MP.
Dotting fathers
In most cases dotting fathers pushed for their sons.
Former
CM Kailash Joshi tried hard to promote his son. Deepak Joshi.
Sunderlal Patwa,
who was CM twice, rooted for his foster son, Surendra Patwa.
Both are now ministers
in BJP government in MP.
Motilal Vora, who was also CM for two terms, pushed
for his son, Arun, although he was not exactly cut out for the job. After
several false starts Arun Vora is now finally an MLA in Chhattisgarh.
Digvijay Singh,
twice CM of MP, was succeeded by his son, Jaivardhan, as an MLA. He also promoted
his brother, Lakshman Singh, who succeeded him in parliament and assembly both.
Dynasties are, however, not always founded by fathers.
Machiavellian politics
Shyama
Charan Shukla, who was CM twice, was impervious to his son, Amitesh’s desire to
join politics. But Digvijay Singh persuaded senior Shukla and took Amitesh
under his wings. It was part of his Machiavellian machination to counter Arjun
Singh’s influence in state politics even as sowing seeds of discord in the
Shukla family.
Amitesh later became a minister in Chhattisgarh.
Shukla family, in a way, is the first political family of MP. SC Shukla ’s
father, Ravi Shankar Shukla, was the first chief minister of MP and one of his
younger brothers, VC Shukla, was a minister at centre for decades.
Interesting is the case of Nareshchandra Singh, the former
Raja of Saranggarh, who was MP’s chief minister for a 13 days in 1969. For over
67 years, five members of the erstwhile royal family have functioned as ministers
in central government, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and members of
parliament and assemblies.
Another political family is that of former Chief
Minister Govind Narayan Singh. His one son, Harsh Singh, is now a minister in
MP. Another son, Dhruv Narain Singh, was a prominent BJP MLA from Bhopal.
Sakhlecha, an exception
At least one former CM’s son made a place for himself
without his fathers’ backing – Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha’s son, Omprakash
Sakhlecha, who is currently a BJP MLA.
But most CMs helped their wards.
The state's first chief minister, Bhagwantrao
Mandloi, drafted his son and daughter in law as MLAs.
Madloi's successor was Kailash Nath Katju, CM from 1957 to 1962. Katju was already a minister in New Delhi before Nehru drafted him to MP.
Katju's son, Shiva Nath Katju, was a Congress MLA and MLC in UP.
Ironman DP Mishra made his
brother Satyendra Mishra a legislator after he was disqualified.
Prakash Chand Sethi did not have a son. He had five daughters. One of his son in laws, Ashok Patni, was active in Congress and even contested election once unsuccessfully.
Uma Bharti
appointed elder brother Swami Lodhi, who was an MLA earlier, to a government
corporation.
Babulal Gaur propped his daughter in law, Krishna Gaur, as mayor of Bhopal. She is seen as a successor to the octogenarian leader.
Tweets @nksexpress
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| Ajay Singh, son of Arjun Singh |
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| Jaivardhan Singh, son of Digvijay Singh |
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| Deepak Joshi, son of Kailash Joshi |
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| Surendra Patwa, foster son of Sunderlal Patwa |
Excellent Story
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