PRIYANKA (NEHRU) GANDHI VADRA AND THE QUANDARY OF THE CLAN by Mihir Srivastava

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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter of the prime ministers of India. Her mother, Sonia, is of Italian origin, could also become the prime minister, however, her conscience didn’t permit it. Sonia, however, couldn’t resist the trappings of power, she, for all practical purposes, ruled by proxy, with Manmohan Singh as the prime minister.

Sonia headed an extra constitutional body, tailor made for her, the National Advisory Council (NAS), its advice binding on the government for all practical purposes. In other words, she enjoyed all the power but hardly any responsibility, before she had to demit office due to ‘office of profit’ disqualification. The Prevention of Disqualification Amendment Act was passed in 2006, specifically exempting the NAC chairperson post from being considered as an office of profit. She became in charge again. Priyanka’s family, directly and indirectly, has ruled the country for nearly fifty years, this doesn’t include the full term of PV Narasimha Rao, who wasn’t pliant to the Gandhis—read 10 Janpath.

The incumbent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, offers the biggest challenge to her clan, often dubbed, still, as the first family of the country. Modi himself refers to her brother Rahul, the leader of the opposition, as Yuvraj or the prince, who has been fighting a valiant political battle against Modi, failing multiple times, each defeat bigger than the last one, but for a few notable exceptions, but has not given up, and many believe is improving, and may offer some challenge in the future, but as of now, Modi is firmly saddled to power. Modi has an advantage, he doesn’t carry the weight of the past, an illustrious lineage—the family.

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Priyanka didn’t let negativity cloud her mind, life, and is not sceptical. In a bold move, it was a ‘personal’ and ‘independent’ initiative, she met Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts of her father’s assassination, 17 years of the ghastly act. She wanted to make peace with her loss; anger or violence erodes the person who harbours it, and, therefore, she pardoned her.

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Priyanka didn’t enter politics for the longest, though it was always on the cards, and many construed this was done to prevent creation of another power center within the party. Sonia retired from electoral politics in 2024 when Priyanka entered the fray. 

Life’s not a level playing field, lineage does matter. Priyanka, the first term member of parliament, was made the general secretary of the party even before she contested the elections. She has made her presence felt in the parliament, vociferously reminding the treasury benches that they should talk about what they have done, instead of blaming her ancestors, especially her great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, for their faults and failures. 

It’s a valid point, but, as I said, family does matter, or she won’t be there in the parliament making this point. She should know, if she draws her family and their sacrifices, their contribution to the nation to muster support of the electorate; she should be open to face the criticism as well. We all have reasons to believe that the current state of affairs is the responsibility of her family; the BJP mostly focuses on the bad.

Instead of referring to the past, she is also advised to talk of the present beyond the rhetoric about how bad Modi is for the nation. She should also be able to tell what her family would have done under these dire circumstances. What's her party's blue print for the nation, the alternative path. In reactionary politics, rhetoric fuels more rhetoric. To defame the opponents is a bid to colonise the minds of the electorate by selling narratives, garner their support in the currency of votes, trying to be more convincing than their opponents, it doesn’t matter whether it is truth, half-truth or blatant lies. Politicians are stage performers, especially after the proliferation of social media and 24x7 media. It’s not easy.

Politics is personalised, which is an advantage for Priyanka, an amenable figure with mass appeal, her resemblance to her grandmother, Indira, the streak of white hair is getting bolder, give her a certain familiarity, the ‘family’ advantage, and may tilt the balance in her party’s favour.

All said and done, it’s not easy to be born in the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Priyanka lost her grandmother when she was 12 and her father when she was 19 to assassins; a repercussion of their political intervention in Punjab and Sri Lanka, respectively. 

The sword of Damocles ever since hangs, relentlessly. They are at a mortal risk. She, along with her brother Rahul, couldn’t have a normal upbringing. A good part of education was home schooling. Her Hindi tutor, it is said, was none other than Amitabh Bachchan’s mother, Teji, who was her grandmother’s friend.

She's independent minded, and has her own world view, yet firmly embedded to the family's political ideology, is strong-willed like her grandmother, and makes her own decisions in life. It includes the person she ended up marrying, Robert Vadra.

In retrospect, one can say, given what is available in public domain, this marriage has been a mixed bag for both. A health freak, Robert's wealth has grown multifold ever since his marriage to Priyanka. There are multiple cases against him for land deals, allegedly, that were designed to benefit him when the Congress government was in power. And, Robert has made it clear time and again in the past that he has political ambitions. At least a couple of stories of mine on him were stopped at the behest of a person who now criticises the current mainstream media as ‘godi’ or unabashedly pro-establishment.

Priyanka would be acutely aware that sons-in-law in politics may not pan out well for the clan, the party. Her grandfather, Feroz Gandhi (1912–1960) who was a Parsi and not related to Mahatma Gandhi, was famously not on the same page with his father-in-law, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister of India. As a sitting MP, he was, often, an outspoken critic of Nehru’s government, even exposing corruption scandals, causing embarrassment to the family. 

So, Robert has been kept on a tight leash. He even distanced himself from his father, Rajinder, and brother, Richard, 24 years ago and clarified that they are ‘not authorized to represent him.’ Roberts issued a public statement to this effect, accusing them of misusing his connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family to solicit money, jobs, and favours. It remains a matter of speculation that many members of his family met a sudden unnatural end.  

Priyanka’s presence in the parliament is welcome, her charming intervention despite the hostilities of the interparty rivalry, her perpetual smile, her cogent debates and interventions are well appreciated across the political spectrum. She operates in the true spirit of a democrat; adversaries are not enemies after all. She has to try and keep trying to make all the right noises. The mainstream media seems polarised in favour of the establishment, notwithstanding she gets ample of attention and coverage. And she's catching up with her brother as the most fervent critique of the Modi rule. 

Priyanka is in public life, including her mother and brother, despite and in spite of so many personal tragedies--commendable. She didn’t let negativity cloud her mind, life, and is not sceptical. In a bold move, it was a ‘personal’ and ‘independent’ initiative, she met Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts of her father’s assassination, in Vellore after 17 years of the ghastly act. She wanted to make peace with her loss; anger or violence erodes the person who harbours it, therefore, she pardoned her. Nalini was released, finally in 2002, by the apex court, 30 years after the assassination.  

Her brother remains the most eligible bachelor even at the age of 55. Priyanka has two children, Raihan and Miraya. Raihan got engaged to Aviva Baig, his girlfriend of seven years—the wedding will take place soon. They are the generation next of the grand old party of India, though have not overtly shown interest in the family profession. 

Priyanka’s cousin, Varun, (son of uncle Sanjay who died in an air crash in 1980, that pivoted, her father, Rajiv, into politics against the wishes of Sonia) with his mother, Maneka had joined the BJP.  There's a context to it. Maneka was famously asked to leave the prime minister’s residence by her mother-in-law, Indira, less than two years after Sanjay’s unfortunate demise. However, in the last general elections, they were not fielded by the BJP; their political future seems, at best, in limbo.

Varun won’t join Congress unless his mother Maneka is welcome. Sonia, they say, is not open to the idea. Priyanka, however, is in touch with her cousin and she is the binding force of the extended and estranged family.

Priyanka has a bright future is a safe conclusion, may all her predicaments give her strength. She has the advantage of age, family, charisma. Only time will tell if she'd be able to, with her brother, stage a comeback to power.