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DEMOCRACY VS DYNASTY IN INDIA

Neeta Lal

Asia Times, June 24, 2009

NEW DELHI - More than six decades after India won its independence, the ruling Congress party establishment has suddenly woken up to the importance of egalitarianism and a democratic ethos across its rank and file. In a surprise move, the party has decreed that its leaders will henceforth eschew all feudal titles, like Raja, Maharaj, Maharani, Rajkumari, Rani, Nawab and Begum, in a move towards greater social inclusiveness and class equity.

Stating that there's no place for such feudal titles in a "democracy like India", a recent party circular directed cadres not to address leaders with honorifics. Royal titles will also be deleted from the party's records.

Insiders admit that the directive to shun royal appendages has come from the party's top echelons because it dovetails with its projection of itself as the "common man's party", a theme which has been central to its campaign to reach out to the people.

So what if the order has come four decades after erstwhile prime minister Indira Gandhi - Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law - abolished privy purses in the late 1960s? According to article 363a of the constitution, the powers and titles of the rulers of the native states have already been discontinued along with the privy purses.

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