Lok Sabha elections 2024: Amidst unrelenting attacks from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over dynasty politics in the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, Congress has fielded the children, grandchildren and other kin in at least 23 out of the 192 constituencies for which candidates have been announced for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024. In Karnataka, three daughters and two sons of five incumbent ministers are contesting the polls.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor claimed that it is ingrained within India's cultural fabric and its prevalence was not only within the grand old party but also within the BJP.
Tharoor stood by dynasty politics in parties in the country, saying it's part of India's culture and suggested it's a common practice, not something unusual. "It's a relatively common thing that in India, much more than in the West, a father expects his son to follow his profession, and so it tends to go. So it's not at all surprising that there is a certain level of 'parivar vaad' in all parties," Tharoor said.
Ridiculing the anti-dynasty campaign of Modi during his Lok Sabha election rallies, Tharoor claimed that except for the top few leaders, all the ministers and MPs in the BJP are sons or daughters of other senior BJP officials.
Here is list of leaders
Gaurav Gogoi
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Jorhat constituency. Gaurav Gogoi is the sitting MP from the Kaliabor constituency, which was rechristened as Kaziranga after delimitation. Gogoi had won by a margin of 82,653 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by polling 5,43,288 votes against 4,60,635 of Congress' Sushanta Borgohain, who later joined the BJP.
The Congress leader- the MP from the Kaliabor seat, which was renamed Kaziranga during the delimitation exercise- shifted to Jorhat that was once represented by his late father and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi for three terms in Parliament. Elections for the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam will take place in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.
Nakul Nath
Nakul Nath, the lone Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh who has been renominated from Chhindwara by his party, has declared assets worth nearly Rs 700 crore, according to his election affidavit. The sitting Chhindwara MP, son of former chief minister and influential Congress leader Kamal Nath, had topped the list of 475 Lok Sabha crorepati members in 2019, according to the non-profit Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, the BJP in 2019 had won 28, barring Chhindwara. The saffron party has fielded its district unit president Vivek Bunty Sahu against Nakul Nath. Though the Chhindwara seat has been the bastion of the Congress, with the grand old party losing elections here just once, BJP is channelling all its energies to wrest this seat this time.
The election will be held here in Chhindwara in the first phase on April 19 with five other parliamentary seats which include Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Madla and Balaghat in the state. The Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling would be held on April 19, followed by April 26, May 7 and May 13.
Karti Chidambaram
Karti Chidambaram, son of veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram had won from the Sivaganga constituency in 2019 and has been entrusted with the responsibility again for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
Voting for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will be held in the first phase of the general elections on April 19. In the 2019 general elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, comprising the Congress, VCK, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MMK, KMDK, TVK, and AIFB, registered a landslide victory, winning 38 of the 39 seats in the state. In 2019, DMK won 23 Lok Sabha seats with a 33.2 per cent vote share, Congress bagged 8 seats with a 12.9 per cent vote and CPI won two seats in Tamil Nadu.
Virender Rawat
Congress veteran and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat's son Virender Rawat is contesting from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The election in Uttarakhand will be held on April 19 during the first phase to elect the 5 members of the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha.
Praniti Shinde
Praniti Shinde is the daughter of former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. She is contesting from Solapur in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena. Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.
Mansoor Ali Khan
Mansoor Khan is the son of former Union minister K Rahman Khan. He is contesting from Bangalore Central in Karnataka. The Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases in Karnataka on April 26 and May 7.
The 14 Lok Sabha segments in the southern parts of the state will vote on April 26 in the second phase, the remaining 14 constituencies in the northern parts will vote in the second phase on May 7 in the third phase.
Radhakrishna Doddamani
He is the son-in-law of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Radhakrishna is contesting from Gulbarga in Karnataka.
Madhya Pradesh candidates' connection with political families
In more than half of the total 29 seats, the BJP and Congress candidates come from political families. Congress is way ahead of the BJP in taking forward dynastic politics, but BJP, that makes a hue and cry over dynastic politics, is also not lagging far.
A total of 15 candidates from the BJP and Congress 15 candidates are in the fray from the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP. While BJP has fielded three such candidates Congress has given tickets to 12. The candidates in BJP leaders carrying their political legacy forward include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Himadri Singh and Anita Chouhan. Those from the Congress includes Digvijaya Singh, Nakul Nath, Kamleshwar Patel, Rao Yadvendra Singh, Rajendra Malviya, Guddu Raja Bundela, Siddharth Kushwaha, Arun Shrivastava, Neelam Mishra, Samrat Saraswar, Satyapal Singh Sikarwar and Narendra Patel.
Congress candidates in Madhya Pradesh
Congress candidate from Rajgarh, Digvijaya Singh- the heavyweight of Congress in MP from decades, has roots in politics. His father, Balbhadra Singh was an MLA from the Raghogarh Vidhan Sabha constituency which is now represented by his son Jaivardhan Singh. Digvijaya’s brother Laxman Singh too has represented the Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat in the past. Congress candidate from Chhindwara, Nakul Nath- the lone Congress Member of Parliament from the state, is the son of former chief minister Kamal Nath, who was elected nine times from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency before he vacated the seat for his son in 2019 LS polls. Congress candidate from Sidhi, Kamleshwar Patel’s father, Indrajeet Kumar, was a member of Congress party and also cabinet minister in MP state govt.
Similarly, the Congress candidate from Guna, Rao Yadvendra Singh, is son of senior BJP leader late Deshraj Singh Yadav, his other family members are also in politics and have been associated both with the BJP and Congress. Congress candidate from Dewas LS seat, Rajendra Malviya is son of former state Congress president Radha Kishan Malviya. The Congress candidate from Sagar, Guddu Raja Bundela belongs to an affluent Thakur family from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. His father Sujan Singh Bundela was elected from Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency in 1999. The Congress candidate from Satna, Siddharth Kushwaha’s father Sukhlal Kushwaha was MP from Satna LS on BSP ticket. From Bhopal LS seat, the Congress candidate, Arun Shrivastava is son of Vimla Shrivastava, a senior leader in Congress who held different positions in the party. Congress candidate from Rewa, Neelam Mishra is wife of MLA Abhay Mishra and Congress Balaghat candidate, Samrat Saraswar’s father Ashok Saraswar was an MLA.
Congress candidate from Morena, Satyapal Singh Sikarwar’s father Gajraj Singh Sikarwar, remained a two-time MLA while his elder brother and sister-in-law are also in politics from Gwalior. Congress candidate from Khandwa, Narendra Patel, is nephew of former MP Tarachand Patel.
Lok Sabha polls 2024
Notably, the election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the general election. The counting of the votes will be held on June 4.
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