Rajasthan Cong falls into dynasty trap again

Old habits die hard and the Congress is no exception in Rajasthan. Despite back-to-back defeats in Assembly, Lok Sabha and local body elections, dynasty politics continues to hold its sway in party’s state camp.

Though the party has given due prominence to young leaders in the newly announced Pradesh Congress Committee executive body, over a dozen of the young faces are either relatives or family members of senior leaders in the state.

Vaibhav Gehlot, son of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot has been appointed as the state general secretary. Junior Gehlot has not been active in local politics. His appointment is seen as his official launch in state politics.

Vijendra Singh Shekhawat, another state general secretary,  is reportedly a very close relative of former president, Pratibha Patil.

In the new executive body, PCC chief Sachin Pilot has tried to rope in prominent leaders from every region of the state. At several places where senior leaders have grown too old, party has given chance to their family members and relatives in the name of bringing new faces.

In all, there are around 19 young leaders who are closely linked to the old guard.
Among 43 new secretaries, about 10 are purely the case of dynasty politics. These are the families which hold immense clout and political influence in their areas and cannot be ignored.

The secretaries like Kamal Meena is son of former cabinet minister Parsadi Lal Meena, Dhiraj Meena is the son of present legislator Ramesh Meena, Kuldeep Indora is the son of former minister and stalwart Heera Lal Indora, Balendu Singh Shekhawat is the son of previous Assembly Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat and Rita Choudhary is daughter-in-law of former state unit chief Narayan Singh.

The other young leaders like Prashant Sharma, Zahida Khan, Amin Kagzi, Chetan Dudi, Rohit Bohra and Danish Abrar also fall in the same category.

Secretary Gopal Krishan is the nephew of former Union minister Girija Vyas.
Many of these leaders were given tickets in the previous Assembly elections. But they could not perform well.  At many places, the party had no choice other than to include them in the PCC.

“A leader’s capability and potential cannot be overlooked just because he is son or daughter of a senior leader. The new responsibilities have been given purely on basis of individual competence,” said Archana Sharma, party’s state unit vice president.