No other national or even major regional political leader had till then so inducted a family member into politics and policymaking. Ideology-based parties of the political Left and Right were never touched by this syndrome. The elevation of Sanjay Gandhi to a position of unquestioned power heralded a new phase of politics in India wherein a political party leader’s family became the core of the party’s power structure. Following this precedent, most regional and caste- or community-based political parties have adopted dynastic succession as the method of leadership transition.
