S Rajashekara
 
Bangalore, May 10: It's not just confined to the Nehru- Gandhi family in the Congress or the Gowdas in the JD(S).

Dynastic rule is here to stay as Karnataka has reached a new high in this Assembly polls with over 50 family members of various parties jumping into the fray.

Some of these candidates are contesting against each other, turning the Assembly Constituencies into fiefdoms. Political scientists and observers express concern over the growing trend of political monopoly by a handful.

Political analyst and director of the International Academy for Creative Teaching at Bangalore Sandeep Shastri and Indian Institute of Management -Bangalore professor and founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms Trilochan Sastry attribute the growing dynasty politics to the lack of internal democracy in political parties.

''This is an indication of a clear deviation or distortion of democratic norms,'' Shastri says, emphasising that 'internal democracy was the greatest lacunae in our political party system.' Both feel that there should be reforms to regulate political parties, like those in Germany and Scandinavian countries, if not a laborious process like the one in the US.

Trilochan Sastry says that the phenomenon, which was earlier confined to the Congress, has now spread to all the parties. ''It's ironic that those who opposed family rule are now encouraging the same.'' Sandeep Shastri, however, doesn't see this phenomenon of dynastic rule as exceptional to the Indian polity.

''We always had this culture of promoting offspring,'' he says, and hastens to add that the trend could only help them (children or relatives) to get a foothold in the political system.

''To establish oneself in politics, one needs to prove one's worth, besides getting that initial push,'' he says.