Democracy was supposed to end elitism and bring everybody at the same level but in India’s case exactly the opposite has happened. What is killing democracy is not corruption but dynastic inclinations of our enlightened leaders who just are too fond of their progenies. Just a cursory glance at some of the high profile, heirs of our not so great leaders makes anybody think if they at all will get any opportunity to serve the nation the way our leaders have served over the past sixty years. The obvious leader of the list of course, by virtue of being one the earliest family to have taken part in freedom struggle and in politics, is the Gandhi clan but others are not far behind from the Gandhi family. What service these sons or daughters of our MPs have done for our nation is not yet clear.

The latest entrant to the list is Sunil and Nargis Dutt’s putravadhu Manyata and puttar Sanjay Dutt aka Khalnayak aka Munna Bhai. One may ask what is wrong with that after all being son/daughter/putravadhu of an MP he/she must have politics in his/her blood or at least a basic understanding of how things are run. But simultaneously one must also ask in a 60-year old democracy how many generations of their family have actually taken part in politics. That would be helpful in knowing how much politics is in their blood. Was politics in Sunil Dutt, Mulayam, Lalu, Shibu Soren, Amitabh Bacchan, Vinod Khanna, Govinda, Nitish Bhardwaj, Jaylalitha, Deve Gowda, Bal Thacrey, etc, blood? The answer is of course –no but even then they got the opportunity to display their worth. What could possibly have led to the joining of these blue eyed boys of their mentors to politics is there for all to see. Vinod Khanna has yet to transform Gurdaspur into Paris. People of Bikaner don’t know where is Dhram and are asking why he has forgotten his karm. I would rather refrain from saying anything about Chichi because I am afraid of his chanta.

Few days back our Pranab babu was at his sycophantic best when he ecstatically proclaimed Rahul Gandhi as PM in waiting which Rahul himself finds abominable, not the post but the style. The factors behind the promotion of any politician’s son are understandable but what made Amar Singh so confident about Manyata, who is more popular as Sanjay Dutt’s wife than for her acting skills, will remain an unsolved mystery. May be in these turbulent times Manyata could help the Samajwadi Party regain their prestige and position which they lost to BSP in UP assembly elections.

The ordinary party worker of any political party has got more knowledge than any of these actor turned politicians who even after entering the political pathshala keep on signing new movies. One should also check their attendance in Parliament especially during crucial sessions. The country does not need emotional fools like these filmy people, they need someone who has a balanced head and understands what ought to be done to take this country out of the mess at all levels. It is indeed paradoxical that when the country needs true leaders we are getting true actors. Just ask these actors the political implications of banning Pakistani actors in India. Many shrugging shoulders would say that this should not happen.

In any democracy the greatest irony is that the electorate has no say in the process of ticket allotment and hence left with no option they have to choose whatever is given to them. True leaders who are very few in number are pushed back and mediocre people who are in majority anywhere take charge. That is the reason why it is often called that democracy is all about quantity and not quality. We have people imposed on us because somebody is the son of a politician, veteran politician; famous actors or they themselves are actors, a popular public figure. Almost all the MPs in India have their succession plan ready and almost in all cases it revolves round their sons/daughters or any of the trusted family members. With so many actors in Indian politics it seems that day is not far when any Lok Sabha proceeding will look like the shooting of a multi-starer movie.