To Be or to BJP...That is the Question

I find the political blowup in India about Sanjay Gandhi's son Varun running for election under the BJP banner quite amusing. For those of you who don't know the history behind the issue, it's somewhat of a soap opera, and quite entertaining.

Essentially, Varun Gandhi belongs to the Nehru/Gandhi (no relation to the Mahatma) family, the first-family of Indian politics who has governed the country (in one way or another) for most of the past 60 years through the Congress Party. Here's where the drama seeps into the story. Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter and India's Prime Minister during the 1970s and 1980s (until she was assassinated), had two sons: Sanjay and Rajiv. Sanjay was the eldest, and thus the next-in-line to the Indian throne (Prime Ministership). He was also actively involved in politics - and even led a vasectomy and sterilization campaign during 'The Emergency.' Rajiv got married first though - and brought his Italian wife (Sonia) to the family home. When Sanjay got married, Rajiv and Sonia already had a son - Rahul - and Sonia was already established as The Daughter-in-Law in the Gandhi household. Obviously, Sanjay and Menaka (his wife) were jealous.

The problems started now, including fights between Sonia and Menaka for power in the household. And then one day, Sanjay died in a plane accident, and Rajiv came into the limelight - and became Prime Minister. The younger son, became the Prime Minister and the Menaka and her kid(s) were shunted out of the political light. But not for long.

Menaka joined the BJP - the Congress' arch-enemy - and contested parliamentary seats in the same region as Rajiv. Rajiv was eventually assassinated, and like the dutiful daughter-in-law that she is, Sonia took up the political mantle and became the leader of the Congress Party. Today's Indian government, although presided over by Manmohan Singh, is still run with her 'best wishes.' Sonia's children, Rahul and Priyanka, have also made forays into the political sphere - and with the Indian elections in sight (polling starts in less than a month), all eyes are on the Gandhi kids.

Here's where more trouble starts. Varun Gandhi (Sanjay and Menaka's son) has refused to run for the Congress (not sure if he was ever asked to - I doubt it though) and is instead running for the BJP (the Congress' enemy, like I said). There is a massive uproar in India about a son from the Gandhi/Nehru household joining the ranks of the Hindu Nationalist (and possibly pseudo-fascist) BJP [keep in mind that the BJP is an offshoot of the RSS, an organization that was banned by Nehru for its complicity in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination].

To be completely honest, I think the uproar is unfair. Yes, the BJP can be a fear-mongering party at times, but it is largely restrained by its desire to win a sizeable number of parliamentary seats. Obviously, like any other political party in the world, it cannot run on a platform that would alienate a large number of people. If Varun Gandhi truly believes in the BJP's policies, then why not let him run for the party? Stop the smear campaign against him - just because he was born into the Gandhi family, doesn't mean he has to do everything that Aunty/Chachi Sonia tells him to do.

India prides itself on being the world's largest democracy - it's time it lived up to that title.

(apologies for the long post and if it doesn't make sense...)