Dynasts in 17th Lok Sabha: 30% MPs Have Influential Family Ties, Maximum From Bihar and Punjab
Out of the 856 candidates fielded by the Congress and BJP, 227 (27%) among them were dynasts. On the other hand, 162 (18%) out of the 1,333 candidates fielded by regional parties were dynasts.
New Delhi, May 27: Even as the issues of nepotism and dynastism have been used by the ruling regime to target the Opposition, the two factors have been evident in candidatures cutting across political lines. While Congress had fielded the maximum number of candidates with influential family ties, the BJP was close behind.
An analysis of the candidatures filed in Lok Sabha elections 2019 has found that regional parties - though appearing to be more nepotistic due to their family-stronghold-type approach - have actually fared better than their national counterparts. Hema Malini, Harsimrat Kaur, Meneka Gandhi, Others Richest Women MPs in 17th Lok Sabha, Check Full List Here
Out of the 856 candidates fielded by the Congress and BJP, 227 (27%) among them were dynasts. On the other hand, 162 (18%) out of the 1,333 candidates fielded by regional parties were dynasts.
The least number of dynasts were issued tickets by the CPI(M) and the CPI. Only 5 out of the 118 candidates fielded by the two parties combined had family connections.
Among the elected MPs, 162 (30%) lawmakers are those with strong family ties within their respective parties.
State-wise, the maximum number of dynasts have been elected from Punjab (62%), where 8 out of the 13 elected lawmakers have their kin associated with their respective parties.
Second on the list is Bihar with 43% or 17 out of the 40 MPs with family ties. The state is closely followed by Maharashtra, where 20 of the 48 lawmakers are dynasts.
Though the 17th Lok Sabha has 30 per cent elected dynasts, one among them - Congress chief Rahul Gandhi - faced a massive setback in Nehru-Gandhi family bastion of Amethi. He was defeated from the seat by BJP leader Smriti Irani. The Gandhi scion, however, will be part of the new House as he got elected from Wayanad - his second seat - by a record margin of over 8 lakh votes.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2019 11:32 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).