No longer a mission

Mahatma Gandhi Unlike in the US and UK, the presence of good a n d professionally successful people in politics is rarely seen in the country. In India in early days, many good and illustrious people were in politics.
Mahatma Gandhi took up politics as a mission for freeing the nation from the bondage of the British rule. He did not want his sons and other family members to join politics Jawaharlal Nehru family had been in active politics in the country . In Bengal, the veteran Marxist Jyoti Basu was a barrister but he did not take up the legal profession. Instead , he joined politics as a mission. He wanted the young and educated people in large number to come forward and participate in the political activities.

Jawaharlal Nehru Former Congress chief minister Siddhartha Sankar Ray and the ex-Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee of the CPI(M)were much successful at the bar. But still they joined politics and proved themselves successful in their own ways .

Jyoti Basu Siddhartha Sankar Ray and Somnath Chatterjee Things have changed over the years. Bihar's Lallu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri (both were the state chief ministers in different terms) . The Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh( presently, the UP chief minister) have been enjoying utmost official and political power for decades.

Rabri Devi and Lallu Prasad Yadav The elderly DMK leader Karunanidhi has not abandoned politics.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh These days, larger job opportunities to the young and educated people have been refraining them from joining politics. According to a survey conducted by a study group at the Jadavpore University, in the states like West Bengal and Kerala, a maximum number of educated youths had joined politics ( the communist party) in the sixties and seventies since they did not get suitable jobs.
Now politics has been quite lucrative profession in the country. It is attracting the jobless people.

Subhrangshu Gupta