What Mulayam can learn from South India family politics

Mulayam Singh Yadav has put a temporary lid on the Yadav PariWar, but if only he had taken the effort to study the manner of working of four political dynasties in South India, he could have followed a different template instead of getting caught in the ugly vortex of family politics.

The Karunandhi dynasty in Tamil Nadu, Deve Gowda & Sons in Karnataka, the KCR family in Telangana and the NTR-Chandrababu Naidu story in Andhra Pradesh have different kinds of takeaways and hold important lessons for the seniormost Yadav.

The Karunanidhi family

The Karunanidhi template comes closest to Mulayam in terms of the largeness of the family with a large supporting cast in addition to the sons. Though like the Samajwadi Party, the DMK is also considered a family party, Karunanidhi ensured he gave positions of prominence to non-family leaders as well, at least till such time that son MK Stalin acquired leadership experience. But at no stage did a power broker like Amar Singh have clout at the DMK headquarters in Chennai.

Unlike Karunanidhi, who was happy fighting to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Mulayam nurtured national ambitions. He would have thought he came tantalisingly close during the United Front regime, only to be pipped to the post by Deve Gowda and IK Gujral.

It was in the quest for Delhi that he agreed to leave Lucknow to son Akhilesh. In contrast, Stalin, even at 63, is still waiting for the day Karunanidhi would agree to hang up his boots.

In hindsight, Mulayam would perhaps regret not having become Uttar Pradesh CM in 2012. To make it known that he is still the boss, he has publicly rebuked Akhilesh, showing his frustration.

To ensure his son feels insecure, he kept brother Shivpal in important positions of power. In constrast, Karunanidhi made Stalin sweat it out during the 2016 campaign but it is was clear that if the DMK came to power, Appa will be boss.

Not that Karunanidhi did not have his share of problems. But in most cases, he was far more emphatic about which basket he put his eggs in, unlike Mulayam who has come across as vacillating.

The DMK patriarch threw out the Maran brothers from the party before they came back on his terms. Similarly, when push came to shove, he expelled elder son Azhagiri as well, making the line of succession in the DMK clear. Daughter Kanimozhi too has been given a role in the party, but by making it clear to her who is number 2.

The problem with the SP is that Mulayam, despite handing over the reins of power in UP to Akhilesh, spares no effort to undermine him. The joke goes that UP has five-and-a-half chief ministers, the half CM being Akhilesh.

In contrast, Stalin runs the DMK with only the veto power on a very important decision being left to Karunanidhi. So while Karunanidhi has not given Stalin full power, he gives the impression that he has.

Mulayam, by making Akhilesh CM has given him power, but he gives the impression that he grudges having done so.

Gowda & Sons

HD Kumaraswamy, for all practical purposes, runs the JD(S) though Deve Gowda remains the towering figure in the party. When HDK decided to ally with the BJP a decade ago, the father sulked, though most people thought the father and son were putting on an act to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds.

Like the SP, the JD(S) too is a family outfit, with its support base coming largely from the Vokkaligas. Like Mulayam has his hold only on one state, JD(S) too is a Karnataka party only.

In terms of clout, the JD(S) is reduced to a political freelancer that is seen as forever open to doing deals with either the Congress or the BJP, depending on the situation.

Just like the SP, that is often accused of having an underhand deal with both the national parties.

The KCR family

Compared to Karunanidhi and Gowda, K Chandrasekhar Rao's rule is only two years old. But like the 4G Airtel ads in Hyderabad, the TRS rule is also in jest referred to as a 4G sarkar - KCR garu, son KTR garu, daughter Kavitha garu and nephew Harish garu.

KCR has chosen to be king but runs his government through these trusted eyes and ears. The task is also divided between the three. Kavitha takes care of the Delhi end of operations, KTR is the suave English-speaking politician for the Twitter-loving urban crowd, and Harish takes care of rural Telangana.

While KTR for all practical purposes is seen as the next in line, in politics one can never be sure how things pan out. But unlike Mulayam, KCR has ensured a smooth run by keeping himself in the top job because like Karunanidhi, he realises that is the only way a war of succession will not break out.

The NTR-Chandrababu Naidu story

This narrative is different from the rest but perhaps holds the most important lesson for Mulayam. The manner in which delicate peace has been got in the Yadav family now, peace will be a casualty should the SP fail to retain power in Lucknow next year.

Even if it does, Akhilesh will itch to show who is the boss of Uttar Pradesh and one cannot rule out Mulayam being dumped like NT Rama Rao was, in a palace coup in 1995 by Chandrababu Naidu.

But in a significant departure from Mulayam, Naidu has ensured there will be no competition to his son Lokesh. Uncle Harikrishna has been politically marginalised and another uncle Balakrishna happens to be Lokesh's father-in-law and hopefully won't come in the way.

In any case, Naidu has not bowed to demands from his fans to make Balakrishna a minister. Another claimant to the NTR legacy, actor Junior NTR too has opted out of politics for all practical purposes.

So Lokesh when he moves further up the ladder, will have no family irritants, the way Akhilesh has.

Also read: What exactly went on in Samajwadi Party was feudal family drama