Nehru v/s Gandhi: The evil of dynasty

Nehru was known to be the closest confidant of Gandhi. This perception was formalized when Gandhi blessed Nehru as India’s first PM.

I am no one to question to Gandhi’s judgment. In fact Nehru did quite a good job to keep the nation together. Other nations who got independence around the same time were withering away while India progressed. Backbone of India’s technological advancement could be attributed to Nehru’s forward thinking.

However Nehru gave India something much more evil, “The curse of dynastic politics”. Here Gandhi was different from Nehru. People accuse Gandhi of neglecting his children, but for me it was Gandhi’s yet another sacrifice for the nation.

He knew nothing good comes out of dynasty. Had Gandhi nurtured his own children, they would be heading congress rather than the Nehru clan.

Gandhi, the saint that he was, could not get himself to do that. He kept his children out of politics. For me he was an accidental father. In essence he was more like top national leaders of BJP, who either didn’t have children or never forwarded them into politics.

When Gandhi forwarded Nehru, he would not have anticipated what would become of his legacy. He would have wanted Nehru to do the same that he himself did. Making his daughter, his Chief of Staff, would be the last thing Gandhi would have wanted Nehru to do.