Gandhi v Gandhi in slanging match

As the country’s drawn-out election passes the halfway stage, Indians are both amused and bemused at a family spat that has broken out within the powerful Gandhi family.

With members on both sides of the electoral divide – Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia, are spearheading the Congress Party’s campaign, while Rahul’s aunt, Maneka, and cousin, Varun, are candidates for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – the likelihood of a slanging match was always on the cards.

Relations got off to a civilised start with Varun actually praising Rahul for development work within his Uttar Pradesh constituency of Amethi. The compliment was not returned, however when Priyanka, Rahul’s feisty sister, said her cousin had gone astray and should be shown the right path.

Addressing a pro-Congress crowd in Amethi, Priyanka continued: “When a young one in the family chooses the wrong path, the elders show him the right path.”

Maneka quickly hit back, saying it was for the people and not Priyanka to decide whether her son was on the wrong path or not.

“I am confident he will do his duty well and win the confidence of the people,” Maneka said.

Varun weighed in saying his cousin had crossed the lakshman rekha of decency with her remarks (a reference from Hindu mythology of a strict convention not to be broken).   

“In the past decade, whether it has been a member of my family or a senior leader of any political party, I have never crossed the lakshman rekha of decency in my speeches,” Varun said.

“We should debate unemployment, corruption, poverty and illiteracy instead of making personal attacks.”

Seemingly oblivious to the fact she had started the row, Priyanka said the election was “an ideological war and not a family tea party”.

Repeating that Varun was on the wrong path, she said she would not have forgiven her child if he had done something like this.

The family split goes back to the 1980s when Sanjay Gandhi, the son of then Prime Minister Indira and husband of Maneka, was widely thought to succeed his mother in office. However, when Sanjay died in a plane crash Indira began to groom Rajiv, her elder son and husband of Sonia, to succeed her.

As a result Maneka, who had political ambitions of her own, fell out with her mother-in-law and founded her own party, which she later merged with the BJP.

In a separate development the Election Commission has told media organisations not to publish opinion polls using information from exit polls in seats that have already voted.

 The problem arises from the country’s lengthy election period which involves voting for the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha (Parliament) being held on nine separate days over more than a month.

The process is necessary because with more than 814 million people eligible to vote at almost a million polling stations, the Commission has to move manpower and resources around the country. Votes will not be counted until May 16.

As a result the Representation of the People Act bans the publication of exit polls, but in the somewhat convoluted language beloved by the framers of Indian legislation, it is not quite clear if the ban extends to opinion polls.

Some media outlets have been conducting opinion polls in areas where the votes have already been cast, leading to allegations that it is a deliberate attempt to influence those who have yet to exercise their franchise.