Passage: Fortunes of many political families are on the line in the upcoming five state assembly

elections and for a change these elections are seeing some family members on opposing sides
of the political divide. After a prolonged schism, Akhilesh Yadav has marginalised everyone else
in his big family, which had earned SP much public scorn for being a family enterprise. With no
future in SP, his sister-in-law Aparna Yadav has joined BJP. The Badal family domination of the
Akali Dal, meanwhile, is yielding diminishing returns to a movement that has dominated Punjab
politics for decades.

Dynastic succession is a reality in Indian politics except for parties like BJP and fading CPM, CPI –
though these too periodically make allowances for scions proving their mettle. That none of
BJP’s top rung leaders are dynasts allows Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go on the offensive
against big political families like Gandhi’s. With umpteen regional parties originally ranged
against Congress now confronting BJP, the latter is sharpening the “parivarvaad” attack against
dynasties of satraps like M Karunanidhi, Bal Thackeray, Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and lately
Mamata Banerjee.

With one plank of the political attacks against him centred on “family rule”, Akhilesh has paid a
backhanded compliment to BJP for ridding SP of his family members. But political elites down
to the district level are actively invested in prolonging their own fiefdoms. Democracy in India
has retained many of the dynastic and feudal characteristics of the medieval political economy
that preceded it. With personality cults flourishing, creating a line of succession for the
immediate family was a primary instinct for those who seized outsized influence in political
parties at the national, state and local levels.

But there seems to be recognition in the political class that popular acceptance for nepotism
cannot be pushed beyond a point. Yadav family politicians are conspicuously missing at
Akhilesh’s side in these elections. Badaun MP Sanghamitra Maurya hasn’t betrayed her 2019
mandate by crossing over to SP, even though her father and senior OBC leader SP Maurya has. In
Punjab and Uttarakhand, Congress is attempting a one family, one ticket rule – discomfiting the
likes of Charanjit Singh Channi and Harish Rawat. BJP has likewise denied the prestigious Panaji
seat to Manohar Parrikar’s son. Indian politics and its economy are in dire need of reforms that
improve opportunities for the youth. Dynastic politics is one of the ways those doors just don’t
open wide enough.
1. Which option best represents the main idea of
the passage?
(a) Succession in dynastic politics in India is an
ominous sign for many political parties.
(b) Dynastic politics are keeping India away from
becoming a world leader.
(c) India’s dynastic politics is losing its charm as
some cracks are showing in India’s dynastic
politics .
(d) The BJP should be awarded for not being a
dynastic political party.
2. It can be inferred from the passage that:
(a) The BJP is the only party with little to no practice of
dynastic succession.
(b) Making allowances for scions is not a move away
from nepotism.
(c) Mamata Banerjee is one of the front runners in
encouraging dynastic politics.
(d) Making allowances for sons of political leaders is a
move away from nepotism.
3. Out of the four marked statements, which one
of the following is the odd one out?
(a) Fortunes of many political families are on the
line in the upcoming five state assembly
elections and for a change these elections are
seeing some family members on opposing
sides of the political divide.
(b) But there seems to be recognition in the
political class that popular acceptance for
nepotism cannot be pushed beyond a point.
(c) Yadav family politicians are missing at
Akhilesh’s side in these elections.
(d) Democracy in India has retained many of the
dynastic and feudal characteristics of the
medieval political economy that preceded it.
4. Which of the following would present a clear
challenge to the claims of the author?
Consider the following statements to be true.
I. The present Home Minister is from the CPI,
whose father was also a political leader.
II. The present party President of the BJP was
given the position on merit, even though his
father was a Member of Parliament.
(a) Only I
(b) Only II
(c) Both I and II
(d) Neither I nor II.
5. Which option most accurately and correctly
represents the author’s opinion?
(a) It becomes virtually impossible to rule out the
competence of dynastic parties, once it is in
power.
(b) The present practice of dynastic politics has its
roots in the history of India.
(c) The CPM is on a declining curve and there are no
hopes for it to be back in contention.
(d) The Samajwadi Party has paid the heftiest price
for being a party based on dynasties.
1. Answer: C
Sol. The correct answer is C. The author talks about India’s dynastic politics and how it is in dire
need of reforms. The author also suggests that in the recent past there has been some
decline in the prevalence of dynastic political parties. This makes option C, the best option.
Option A is close, but does not encompass the entire gist. Option B is far-fetched as it does
not find support in the passage. Option D is extreme. The author only gives a qualified
approval to BJP. Also, as a central idea, it does not consider other important arguments of
the author.
2. Answer: B
Sol. The correct answer is B. A close reading of the first sentence of the second paragraph makes
it clear that CPM and CPI sometimes make allowances for the scions. Making allowances for
the scions defines nepotism; therefore, the phrase, ‘not a move away from nepotism’ says
the same thing, making option B the correct answer. Option A is clearly incorrect - both CPM
and CPI also do not practice this. Option C is incorrect - nothing in the passage suggests this.
D is clearly incorrect because it is opposite to what is suggested in the passage.
3. Answer: C
Sol. The correct answer is C. This is because this is the only statement out of the four that acts as
a premise whereas the other options are claims made by the author.
4. Answer: D
Sol. The correct answer is D. Neither statement I nor statement II presents a clear challenge to
the claims of the author - or weaken the arguments of the author. It is not clear from
statement I whether the present home minister is a part of nepotism or not as it is not clear
that the father was from the same political party, and statement II makes it even more clear
that sometimes the positions are given to the sons of leaders based on merit as well. B is
clearly incorrect for the same reason.
5. Answer: B
Sol. The correct answer is B. This is because the author talks about medieval periods where the
roots of India’s dynastic politics lie. A is incorrect - this has not been suggested by the author.
C is an extreme version of the author’s opinion - interpreting CPI’s decline to be a permanent
decline. D is incorrect because this has not been suggested in the passage either.