To clarify, I don’t mean that he has the other good qualities of Chandrababu Naidu. I am referring to Chandrababu Naidu’s complete takeover of the party from the other more “legitimate” heirs of NTR. My impression is that Raj is much more popular among the Sainiks than his cousin. The question is, is he so popular that after Bal Thackeray, the whole of the party will simply gravitate to him?
Discuss
Also doesn’t Raj resemble Bal-T more than Uddhav?
Remember when Phantom dies, the son adorns the costume and comes from the cave and the jungle folks think it is the ghost who never dies. After Bal-T’s death, possibly, Raj can pull such a stunt and the Sainiks will never know.
Hold on.. !!! “legitimate” heirs ? Are we talking about dynasties ? In the modern democratic era, the capable would succede… so, with out any doubt, Chandra Babu Naidu was most capable in the Telugu Desam party and he succeded. Similar thing will happen in the Shiv Sena and for that matter any where else … including congress party…
Survival of the fittest will fit here.
That is why I put “legitimate” in quotes. I have no time for dynasties and I certainly think that Naidu is a more capable guy than any of NTR’s sons. That doesn’t change the ground reality. The default rule in Indian political parties is that leaders want their sons to succeed them and followers tend to consider the sons as legitimate heirs. I just wanted to ask if there are any parallels between Naidu and Raj on that score. Like Naidu, I think that Raj too is more “capable” than Uddhav. There’s a reason once again why I am putting “capable” in quotes. I don’t care for the Shiv Sena brand of “capability” either.
There is one difference between TDP and the Sena. TDP was an out-and-out personality-centric party. It was only about NTR for 2 deacdes. Remember, he formed the party and won the elections in a few weeks. After that, though he had gimmicks like 2-rs-rice, he never really gave the party any firm ideology, and so no ideological lieutenants were bred. After NTR died, there was a vacuum, and Naidu took over. Yes, he was more capable, as an administrator, but he was also a more canny politician. Also remember, the “capability” of Naidu became evident to everyone much later, when he became CM. When he engineered the “coup”, he was being portrayed as somewhat of a villain.
Shivsena, despite the towering influence of Thackeray, is ideological. The ideology may be flawed, but there is a definite one. The presence of an ideology means that the lieutenants would have more teeth. So it can;t be as easy for Raj.
And yes, as far as Raj being more “capable”, I don’t know the basis of it. From a personal POV, I find Uddhav’s ideas more pragmatic, and well-thought-out than Raj. Yes, Raj has more charisma, but no way does it make him more capable in my eyes.
Raj is more “capable” of being a violence-inducing demagogue like the man he hopes to succeed, if that’s what you mean, but I don’t see what evidence exists of his being capable in any other directions, especially in formulating policy. Uddhav, as Gaurav said, seems more pragmatic — or is that less crazed.
Either way, given that many of their ideological platforms are being hijacked — by the NCP, for example — I don’t think the SS has any future as an ideology-driven party, and will wither away under Uddhav. Equally, I can’t see how Raj’s Bal-Thackeray-like mass appeal will win him elections in these times. The SS seems to have a choice between being Uddhav-led-ideology-driven or Raj-led-personality-driven, and both routes will eventually fail, I believe and hope.
I’m not sure if Gaurav’s distinction of an ideology-driven party Vs a personality driven party is relevant in determining any aspects of succession. When it comes to realpolitic, be it Naidu, Narayan Rane, or Raj or Uddhav, it is about power and money. I’m yet to find proof that ideology is a greater motivation in succession wars than money or power. Lieutenants will be bred. Ideology or no ideology. Narayan Rane’s migration to Congress is ample proof.
And, to the common man, a political party is about hope. If personality succeeds in providing it better than ideology, it will be just as effective, if not more.
Gaurav, Chandrababu Naidu took to the helm of TDP affairs much before NTR passed away, so there is no question of a vacuum here.
It is naive to think that idealogical lieutenants are being bred in any political party, save the left front. It is out and out family affairs in every political party (It is another matter only congress gets brick bats for that).
There is a need for political representation for one and all. Even though NTR rode back on popular demands, along with MGR they are peoples’ leaders. They are a genuine products of the society from which they came from, somebody who rose from being very poor to great heights, so just dismissing them or their party as personality-centric is very unfair to them.
Well, I do not know much about TDP. As far as SS is concerned, the mould of party is to be firebrand and agressive. If you look at ShivSainik he personifies these qualities and that is reason why Raj has more support in Sainik than Uddhav. Uddhav is trying to cast his own coin and that will take some time to know how successful he is.
But in my opinon, had Raj done this in Post Balasaheb SS, he would have got much better chance.
Gaurav said: “TDP didn’t have an ideology and Naidu took over it after NTR passed away.”
Before TDP was established, Indira Gandhi used to change the chief ministers of AP every six months(Congress was the only ruling party till 1983.) The Congress leaders were always fighting for that dummy CM post. So all these people were at the mecy of Indira. Then NTR came with the ‘Telugu Pride’ card establishing TDP(hence the name.) And he instantly won the hearts of Andhrites. Read more about it in the just released 30th anniversary special issue of India Today.
And, as Narasimhan pointed out, Naidu took over TDP before NTR’s demise.
The power of local knowledge and global ignorance.
:))
I guess it does not really matter in India if the party is idealogy driven or personality driven. We are the same “stupid crowd”, lets leader come and go. If Naidu was so idealogical, who cared…the ****in’ rains defeated him in the elections last time. If you know, I am talking about the fact that since it did not rain in Andhra for quite sometime, it becase a losing factor for Naidu in the last state elections. But all this big talk about Naidu or Raj is not going to take us anywhere. Dont get offended in anyway with my message. I am just being practical…including me, all we can do is sit and talk. Can we take it to the next level by helping a party like the one below?
If you can help the below party in any way, that will be great…if not, show your support for them.
http://www.paritrana.org
raj will talk with the time about thoughts , visions and tears of the problems