A revolution or merely a change of characters?

At 6 PM today Mr Narendra Modi will be sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, having led the BJP to an absolute majority in parliament, the first time a party other than the Congress has done so. Tomorrow, 27 May happens to be the 50th anniversary of the death of the first Prime Minister of India, Mr Jawaharlal Nehru. We remember that schools suddenly shut, all offices, shops and cinemas shut down and buses and trams in Calcutta stopped running so that we had to walk over 5 km with our heavy school bags straining our shoulders. Even as we walked home some people were celebrating by distributing sweets because Nehru was blamed for neglecting the east of the country, especially refugees from East Pakistan, today's Bangladesh, while refugees from West Pakistan had been given land around Delhi. Noted historian, Ramachandra Guha, an admirer of Nehru, thinks that he is being unfairly vilified because of the rise of other political parties opposed to socialism and the behavior of his descendants. " Only after the last member of his family has exited the stage of Indian politics might a judicious and credible appreciation of Nehru's life and legacy finally become possible," he thinks. But is that likely to happen? One person thinks that The Family is the glue that keeps the Congress united just like the RSS keeps the BJP united. Big mistake. The RSS is an idea while The Family is an anachronism of a feudal era, rather like the royal family in Britain. While RSS chiefs come and go all Congress leaders are so subservient to The Family that the only solution to the recent rout in the elections is a call for Priyanka Gandhi to join politics, regardless of any criteria of eligibility. One Congress MP, one of the few who managed to retain his seat, has described Nehru's birth as divine. The origin of the imperial family can be detected from a sentence by Australian diplomat, Walter Crocker who describes Nehru's reaction to a large crowd gathered to welcome him saying Nehru's " evident satisfaction with the crowd's welcome did not prevent him from pushing - some of my brother officers said slapping - people who got too near him." Whatever his shortcomings Nehru's achievements were many. He established an industrial base, institutes of excellence, a smooth transfer of administration from the ICS to the IAS, a professional and apolitical army and a tolerance for criticism which is the basis of a healthy democracy. Sadly it has been downhill ever since. So, will today be the day when India finally exorcises The Family and Jawaharlal Nehru can really be appreciated for his vision? We shall see.