Kin vs kin: The family feuds shaking south India's political landscape

Politicians are often seen promoting their family members in politics. But sometimes, political dynasties are rocked by internal rebellions, as family members vie to take over the legacy. In recent times, several family-run parties across south India have found themselves in turmoil.

Internal family disputes are currently plaguing three significant regional parties in south India - the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Tamil Nadu, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh.

In the midst of differences with her brother's political strategy, K Kavitha of BRS appears to be testing her base of support. On the other hand, Anbumani Ramadoss was ousted as the party president in April by PMK founder S Ramadoss, who has since launched an onslaught against him.

The family feuds of PMK and BRS are merely the most recent in an extensive line of acrimonious family and political soap operas that have permeated south Indian politics. Here's a look at the current and some of the past political feuds which have dominated in the past few years.

PMK (ANBUMANI RAMADOSS VS S RAMADOSS)

On May 29, S Ramadoss launched a vicious attack on his son Anbumani, expressing regret for appointing him as a union minister (in the UPA-I government). Additionally, he said that his son and his wife persuaded him to remain with the BJP despite his desire to support the AIADMK.

The senior Ramadoss publicly accused Anbumani of allying with the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections, ignoring his inclination for the AIADMK.

In political circles, speculation floated that the PMK was about to split as a result of Ramadoss's tirade at a news conference, in which he made grave accusations against his son and his wife.

On April 11, the 85-year-old Ramadoss took over the party from his son. The father said that Anbumani would serve as the PMK's working president and re-elected himself as its president. Then, Anbumani contested his father, claiming he was elected by the PMK general council and hence, he remains the party chief.

Only 13 out of 220 party office bearers showed up for the May 16 meeting, which senior Ramadoss claimed was due to his son allegedly threatening PMK officer bearers. Since December 2024, Ramadoss and Anbumani have engaged in public sparring. Ramadoss's choice to name his nephew P Mukundan as the PMK's youth wing chairman had drawn objection from Anbumani.

With 5 per cent of its core vote coming from the Vanniyar community, the PMK is a very influential party in Tamil Nadu. The PMK has alternated between the DMK and AIADMK over the years.

Meanwhile, Anbumani met his father at his home in Thailapuram, close to Tindivanam, on Thursday morning, leading to speculation of rapprochement.

BRS (K KAVITHA VS KT RAMA RAO)

There are rumours of a split within the BRS between K Kavitha and her brother KT Rama Rao. Kavitha and KTR are the children of former Telangana Chief Minister and party patriarch K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR.

Following the BRS's loss in the 2023 Assembly elections and KCR vanishing from the spotlight, the crisis seemed poised to blow up.

In an attempt to undermine KTR, who essentially controls the party, K Kavitha has incited mutiny inside the BRS by writing a letter to KTR. Kavitha has raised concerns over BRS not criticising the ruling BJP-led Centre after she was jailed in the Delhi excise policy case.

One of the leading voices of Telangana agitation and later the BRS, Kavitha is an active party member. For her work as the Nizamabad MP from 2014 to 2019, she even received the Best Parliamentarian Award. In order to promote Telangana identity, Kavitha founded Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural institution. After losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, she suffered her first political loss and was out of the spotlight for about a year.

Her brother had been promoted to working president in December 2018 after winning the Telangana Assembly polls by a wide margin. As a result, Kavitha's reputation as a centre of power diminished and KTR rose to the position of second-in-command of the party, shifting the political dynamics inside the family.

She returned to active politics once the party nominated her for the position of MLC in October 2020. She quickly faced difficulties, though, after being listed as an accused in the Delhi excise policy case. In the first half of 2024, she was taken into custody by the ED and placed in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The BRS, which was already out of power, suffered a crushing loss in last year's Lok Sabha polls, failing to secure a single seat. Some partygoers believed that the Delhi liquor scam was a contributing factor.

However, Kavitha was granted bail in August 2024 but became isolated in her party. On June 4, Kavitha staged a protest against the notice to KCR over the Kaleshwaram issue, but during the protests, party flags were noticeably missing, and no BRS leaders participated in this event.

YSRCP (YS JAGAN MOHAN REDDY VS YS SHARMILA)

A nasty breakdown broke out between the son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister, YS Sharmila, who started her own party and later joined and led the Congress.

Sharmila had political aspirations and wanted to go in a particular path, but her brother opposed, who headed the YSRCP. In recent times, the property dispute between YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and YS Sharmila turned into a high-profile legal battle.

Jagan made serious allegations against Sharmila, who is the Andhra Pradesh Congress chief, in the matter. The property dispute between Jagan and Sharmila came to the fore when there was a political rivalry between the two. This rivalry increased further in January 2024 when YS Sharmila joined the Congress. With this, she merged her YSR Telangana Party with the Congress.

DMK

MK Stalin, the DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, had to battle with a huge family. Even though he has been the clear leader for the past ten years, he effectively handled a challenge from his older brother, MK Alagiri, in the mid-2000s. After a family dispute, Alagiri, a former union minister and a DMK strongman from Madurai, was expelled from the party over ten years ago by his father, M Karunanidhi.

Stalin visited Alagiri's house in Madurai after over a decade, igniting hopes among his supporters for his return.

There are still rumours of conflict within the family around the selection of Udhayanidhi, Stalin's son, as the heir apparent. Kanimozhi, the DMK Parliamentary party leader and Stalin's sister, is a powerful figure in the party, and it will be interesting to see how the dynamics develop going forward.

TDP

After N Chandrababu Naidu's father-in-law and renowned actor NT Rama Rao died, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister engaged in a struggle for power within the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He had to outmanoeuvre Lakshmi Parvathi who married NTR in 1993 and had to make sure that nobody else than him took the centrestage.

NTR died in 1996 at the age of 72, a few months after he was thrown out of power following a revolt led by Naidu after Lakshmi Parvathi's meddling in party affairs and governance.