Akhilesh to Priyanka: How the Right Nose Decides a Political Heir

Dynasties in India have always held their noses high. We look at a few heirs who were lucky to possess the nose.

I became Chief Minister with the same nose and it’s a good charm.

Akhilesh Singh Yadav, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh

In politics, a nose is not just a nose. It's often a declaration of belonging to a prominent political dynasty, and – as Akhilesh Singh Yadav joked in March 2016 – sometimes an accessory to political ascent. Now, as Akhilesh fights a messy battle with his father, his nose might just be a reminder of how firmly he is tied to the Yadav dynasty of Saifai.

Succession troubles in Indian political dynasties are not new; cousins, sons, even nieces declare themselves to be political heirs in front of clueless electorates (even when the patriarch is alive and kicking). But succession wars cease when prominent noses are passed on from one generation of politicians to another.

It immediately signals where political power resides, and eliminates far-off unwanted relatives who are trying to poke their noses into unnecessary affairs.

And we have some hard-nosed politicians to prove that.

1. Nehru-Indira-Priyanka: The Kashmiri Nose

In 2009, a chiselled nose sparked off a political war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Campaigning in the general elections, Priyanka Gandhi said she realised that she resembles her grandmother Indira Gandhi. Feeling the tip of her nose, she said, “It’s my nose.” BJP was not amused. Ravi Shankar Prasad, the then spokesperson of the party, said Priyanka’s comment was like a scene from a “soap opera”. He said,

Someone’s nose will resemble some other nose in a family. Now, this is becoming a national issue. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad, then spokesperson, BJP

Eight years later, as the Congress fights to emerge as a credible Opposition, the issue may seem hilariously overblown. But in 2009, the BJP had good reasons to fear any talk of Priyanka’s nose.

The Nehru-Gandhi Kashmiri nose was (and still remains, to an extent) a potent political symbol. It harks back to the charisma of Indira Gandhi, and the stability of Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1967, Indira Gandhi broke her nose when angry people threw stones at her during an election rally in Orissa. Writing to her friend Dorothy Norman, she joked how she was always looking for an accident so she could undergo plastic surgery and “get something done to my nose”.

Indira Gandhi’s beak-shaped nose became a constant image throughout her reign as India's prime minister, symbolising her autocratic ways and dynamic personality.

So, the Kashmiri nose influences the voters’ perception of Priyanka as the true heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Despite her aversion to politics.

She's got the nose, after all.

2. K Chandrashekar Rao-K Taraka Rama Rao: A Dynasty-In-Waiting

In June 2014, filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma was amused at the number of hoardings of K Chandrashekar Rao in Hyderabad, a few days before his swearing-in ceremony. Verma tweeted that he had heard that “women love KCR’s nose because it uniquely exudes power”. Even if one were to dismiss Verma’s comments as a rant, it is hard to ignore that Telangana’s first chief minister has the most prominent nose in contemporary Indian politics.

Luckily for him, his son K Taraka Rama Rao also boasts a nose to be proud of. Known as KTR, he started off as Information Technology and Panchayati Raj Minister in the new Telangana government in 2014. KTR’s political shrewdness and oratory has led KCR to groom him as his political heir, potentially blocking his nephew Harish Rao’s claim to power.

3. Mulayam-Akhilesh Singh Yadav: The Dangal Within

Akhilesh Singh Yadav is the new Samajwadi Party chief, after fighting an ugly battle with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav over who the party belongs to. As the two camps take their fight for the party’s cycle symbol to the Election Commission, the Saifai dynasty seems to be entangled in a prolonged crisis.

Also Read: The Mahabharat of Yadav vs Yadav: A Lesson for Mulayam, Akhilesh?

4. Bal-Uddhav-Raj Thackeray: An Uncle-Nephew Saga

On his 42nd birthday, Raj Thackeray received an unusual gift from his uncle. Bal Thackeray, Raj’s political mentor and Shiv Sena chief, wrote an editorial titled ‘Dhanajirao’s Nose’ in Saamna, calling Raj Thackeray ‘Dhanajirao’ (roughly translating to someone who is wealthy and wants power.) The supremo wrote,

Dhanajirao (Raj) accepted that Shiv Sena has a nose, but what about his own nose which has been chopped off by the Congress? Sena has its own nose because it is a party of the poor and the middle-class and no one can display his self respect unless he has a nose. What do you have in place of the nose, Kohinoor diamond? 

Bal Thackeray, in his editorial in Saamna

Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray had a tumultuous uncle-nephew relationship, and Raj, who went to launch the MNS, is seen as the political successor to Bal Thackeray’s ‘marathi manoos’ brand of politics. Despite Uddhav Thackeray taking over the Shiv Sena, the MNS’ politics (remember Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Karan Johar anyone?) harks back to the day when the Tiger was on the prowl.

Maybe the political dynastic families in India need to pay attention to these lines from Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children.

When young Aadam was barely past puberty the dilapidated boatman said, “That’s a nose to start a family on, my princeling. There’d be no mistaking whose brood they were. Mughal Emperors would have given their right hands for noses like that one. There are dynasties waiting inside it,” — and here Tai lapsed into coarseness — “like snot.”

Salman Rushdie in Midnight Children

(Source: India Today, Times of India, Economic Times, DNA)