Political personalities are more significant than political parties in India. (UPSC CSE Mains 2018 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
- Indian politics, prior to Independence, was a many-hued constellation of stalwarts, all of whom shone brilliantly individually, but glittered in glorious togetherness under the common, overarching banner of India’s freedom struggle from British rule. Even though the heroes of our freedom struggle deigned to glorify their own selves at the cost of the larger ideal, the people were always eager to repose their faith in the individual more than any political unit or organised ideology.
- After Independence, Indian politics saw a slew of political leaders who relied on their personal charisma and deep-rooted (sometimes dogmatic) ideologies to arouse the masses, and to reap rich political dividends — the ‘egalitarian socialist’ Nehru; the ‘iron lady’ Indira Gandhi; the ‘rationalist atheist’ CN Annadurai; the ‘hero of the Dalits’ Kanshi Ram — and many more.
- After Independence, Indian politics saw a slew of political leaders who relied on their personal charisma and deep-rooted (sometimes dogmatic) ideologies to arouse the masses, and to reap rich political dividends — the ‘egalitarian socialist’ Nehru; the ‘iron lady’ Indira Gandhi; the ‘rationalist atheist’ CN Annadurai; the ‘hero of the Dalits’ Kanshi Ram — and many more.
- After Independence, Indian politics saw a slew of political leaders who relied on their personal charisma and deep-rooted (sometimes dogmatic) ideologies to arouse the masses, and to reap rich political dividends — the ‘egalitarian socialist’ Nehru; the ‘iron lady’ Indira Gandhi; the ‘rationalist atheist’ CN Annadurai; the ‘hero of the Dalits’ Kanshi Ram — and many more.
- But there is also a flip side to this — strong personalities often tend to degenerate into unchecked autocrats. Indeed, Nehru who was the ‘idea of India’ for 17 years after independence, once famously wrote:“We want no Caesars”. The supremacy of personalities in our politics is not bad as long as the political leader is well aware of the nebulous line where democracy ends and dictatorship begins.
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