New Delhi, Nov. 6: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is clear about keeping “parivar raj” out of the BJP.

It means fathers and mothers will not be allowed to bequeath the Hindutva legacy to their offspring except in the rarest of rare cases where royalty, semi-royalty or pedigree is involved.

The late Vijayaraje Scindia’s daughters, Vasundhara and Yashodhara, Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra and Maneka Gandhi’s son Varun were the exceptions.

The Congress swears by the family, the plasma of its bloodstream. Unlike the BJP, the Left is untouched by lineage. Where do the regional parties ? from the Right to the Centre and the Left of the political spectrum ? fall?

In between. Many state satraps who tried to do a Congress and draw up a line of succession floundered either because the process was not integral to their political culture (unlike the Congress) or because they were stopped by loyalists.

This is what is happening to three parties ? the Shiv Sena, DMK and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Bal Thackeray’s attempt to hand the baton to son Uddhav was foiled by the alleged ambition of his nephew, Raj.

Sena sources said the exercise was flawed because the supremo initially promoted Raj, but when it came to the crunch, the son was preferred over the nephew. The Uddhav-Raj power battle cast its shadow on the last Maharashtra elections which, sources claimed, would have been a “cakewalk” but for Thackeray’s failure to project a clear successor.

In Maharashtra, again, the NCP may find itself in a similar situation if and when it has to grapple with the question of “who after (an ailing) Sharad Pawar”.

His nephew, a minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh government, would be the “logical” choice but for two circumstances. One, senior NCP leaders like R.R. Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil are not excited about the younger Ajit Pawar. Two, Pawar’s only child, Supriya Sule, has returned to India after three years abroad to start a school, the Pawar Public School, in a Mumbai suburb. So far, she has denied having “political ambitions”.

If the Thackeray succession pangs have hit the headlines, those in the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh have thus far escaped notice. Its politics has been dominated by Mulayam Singh Yadav and party general secretary Amar Singh.

But state political watchers have noticed another face creeping into the party’s posters and banners. It is that of Yadav’s younger brother, Shivpal, a minister in his cabinet who reportedly holds sway over the party’s day-to-day administration. Yadav’s son Akhilesh, a two-term MP from Kannauj, though articulate, has kept a low profile.

Samajwadi Party sources maintain that in the succession sweepstakes, Akhilesh is the “choice” but Shivpal will have a say in the party’s political affairs. Shivpal endeared himself to his elder brother when he cobbled the numbers for him after Mulayam was installed as chief minister, and thus stole a march over Amar Singh politically.

In Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav introduced his son Tejaswi to voters during the current polls while campaigning for wife Rabri Devi in Raghopur.

Tejaswi, a budding cricketer, was taught how to draw political mileage out of cricket by his father who told the crowds that he had “beaten” BJP leader Sushil Modi’s son in a school tournament. Till a few years ago, the buzz in the RJD was that Laloo Yadav’s eldest daughter, Misa, was being groomed to take over the mantle. She has apparently been passed up for Tejaswi.

Southwards, parties like the DMK and the Janata Dal (Secular) are in the throes of succession crises.

DMK chief M. Karunanidhi would like to pass on his legacy to either of his sons: M.K. Stalin or M.K. Azhagiri. He has divided up Tamil Nadu for them: Stalin looks after the north and Azhagiri, the south.

But senior leaders like Veerapandi, Arumugam and T.R. Baalu are said to be against “dynastic” rule. DMK sources said Karunanidhi’s best bet for a smooth change of guard was for the DMK to come to power in the next elections. The veteran could himself be chief minister and consolidate the positions of his sons.

The problem of succession is one that India’s family businesses have faced for a long time. Eventually, family members were forced to turn themselves into professionals or leave the management to professionals while retaining ownership.