Hint of daughter's debut in Rabri 'nepotism' cry - Former chief minister believes nothing wrong in dynastic politics in current democratic system

Patna, May 2: Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi seems to have been stung by the nepotism bug, which she thinks is completely justified in Indian politics.

While collecting her Member of Legislative Council certificate at the Legislative Assembly today, Rabri pounced upon the reporters when they asked her whether she was in favour of dynastic politics.

“Why is the question of dynastic rule raised only before us? Why not other politicians? Even their sons and daughters are in politics. They have also fielded their relatives in politics. Why don’t people raise their voice against them? Moreover, what’s wrong in dynastic politics? We often find an engineer’s son becoming an engineer, a doctor’s ward becoming a doctor, then why can’t politicians’ sons and daughters become politicians?” Rabri asked.

“The allegation of promoting dynastic rule is always made on the RJD. Forget the son, I will also introduce my daughter in active politics. They have every right to enter the field,” the newly elected MLC said.

Rabri’s husband-turned-guide in politics Lalu Prasad has already decided to blood his younger son Tejaswi Yadav (23) in active politics. Grapevine has it that Tejaswi would be given the RJD youth wing president’s post, which is at present occupied by former MLA Shivchandra Ram.

That Lalu and Rabri were keen on introducing their son into politics became evident when Tejaswi campaigned for his mother in Sonepur and Raghopur constituencies during the 2010 Assembly elections.

To drive home her point of “there is nothing wrong in nepotism”, Rabri even went ahead and cited examples from the other team of Bihar politics.

“Even sons of Narendra Singh (agriculture minister) and Jagdish Sharma (Jehanabad MP) are in politics but people never asked the question of dynastic rule from these leaders. If their children can join politics, why not mine? Time has come when people should think above these things,” she said.

The agriculture minister’s two sons, Sumit Kumar Singh and Ajay Pratap Singh, are MLAs from Chakai and Jamui, whereas Jagdish’s son Rahul Sharma is a legislator from Ghosi.

Though Rabri did not mention the name of her daughter who is next in the line to step into politics, sources said the couple have planned to introduce their elder daughter Misa Bharti soon.

Asked about the impact on the party because of the “favouritism” bestowed to the kin of the senior leaders, especially to sons and daughters, Leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui said: “The party will welcome all those who are ready to struggle. It’s nothing as such that they will get coveted ranks as soon as they join politics. To become a political leader, they have to sit on satyagraha andolans, face the police lathi, serve jail term, hold dharna in extreme conditions. In a nutshell, they will have to start from scratch and will have to be ready to hit the streets.”