It’s Father’s Day today! It is a day to cherish and look back on all the sacrifices our fathers make to help us be better human beings. For many of us, our fathers are our role models and we even look forward to following in their footsteps. One of the most prominent examples of this is in Indian politics, where we have seen some powerful father-son and father-daughter duos who walked the political mile together.
DH brings you some the examples of these power duos.
1. Lalu Prasad Yadav and sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap
Lalu Prasad Yadav, the chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal, has always been marred with controversies. Yadav served as Bihar’s Chief minister twice and Railways Minister for five years. He has been accused of multiple scams including the ongoing Fodder Scam.
He has fathered nine children – seven daughters and two sons, out of which two of them are frontrunners of Bihar politics now. Tejashwi Yadav is currently the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and was previously the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. The other, Tej Pratap Yadav was Bihar’s former Health Minister.
According to their statements about each other, the sons have very well settled into politics following in their father’s footsteps.
2. Bal Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray
Bal Thackeray is the founder and former President of the Shiv Sena, the current ruling government in Maharashtra. Bal Thackeray was a respected politician, he began his career as a cartoonist before launching his own party in the state. He was a strong advocate of Marathi-speaking people, was outspoken and had a tremendous hold over his command.
His son, Uddhav Thackeray, the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, joined politics in 2012 after his father’s demise. Under his leadership, Shiv Sena evolved to become a mainstream political party. There have been multiple comparisons between the two leaders but Uddhav always stood his ground and kept the party's flag steady.
3. Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule
Sharad Pawar, the founder of the Indian Nationalist Congress Party, is known as the master troubleshooter in Maharashtra politics. He is much respected across parties. He is the former CM of Maharashtra and has also held several key ministerial portfolios at the Centre.
The Maratha strongman had played a key role in bringing leaders of the Shiv Sena and the Congress to form a non-BJP Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in which his party is also a constituent.
Following her father’s footsteps, Supriya Sule started her political career in 2006 by getting elected to the Rajya Sabha. She has been an advocate of women’s rights and has led several campaigns against female foeticide and other social evils.
4. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi
Jawaharlal Nehru, as we all know, has been a key figure in India’s freedom struggle from the British. He was the country’s first Prime Minister. He was also India’s longest-serving Prime Minister.
Just like her father, Indira Gandhi was also a famously known politician. She also went on to become India’s first woman Prime Minister. During her father’s premiership, Indira was considered a key assistant and accompanied him on his numerous foreign trips. In 2020, Gandhi was named by Time magazine among the world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century.
5. Rajiv Gandhi – Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi, the eldest son of Indira Gandhi, became the sixth Prime Minister of India after his mother’s assassination. At the age of 40, he was the youngest person to hold the position of a PM. Like his mother, he was also assassinated in 1991.
His children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi both have an active role in politics. Rahul has previously served as the Congress Party President. Priyanka Gandhi has been her mother’s campaign manager for a long time until she became the general secretary of the Congress party.