Crisis on inheritance: Election defeats of Salman-Lewis increase the challenge of Khurshid family

The name of Khurshid family was once considered the biggest strength of Congress in the politics of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh. The legacy of former President Zakir Hussain and the political identity of former Union Minister Khurshid Alam Khan established this family at the national level, but the changing political equations and frequent electoral defeats have posed a big challenge to senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid to save their political legacy.

Salman Khurshid made a strong mark in national politics by winning the Lok Sabha elections from Farrukhabad in 1991. After this he had to face defeat many times. He could not win the Lok Sabha elections of 1996 and 1998. In 2009, he made a spectacular comeback and won the Farrukhabad seat and became a minister in the central government, but after this his political graph continuously went down. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he had to face defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. In 2019 also he lost the elections and the performance of Congress was very weak. Political analysts believe that the support base of Salman Khurshid, who was once considered decisive in Farrukhabad, has become much weaker than before.

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Lewis Khurshid’s political magic also did not work

Lewis Khurshid’s political journey has also been full of ups and downs. He had achieved the distinction of becoming MLA by winning the election from Kayamganj assembly seat in 2002, but after this the victory kept going away from him.

Lewis Khurshid’s electoral position
2002 – Won from Kayamganj assembly seat.
2007 – Defeated from BSP candidate Kuldeep Singh Gangwar from Kayamganj assembly seat.
2012 – Contested elections as Congress candidate from Farrukhabad Sadar Assembly seat, stood fifth and got about 22,900 votes.
2017 – Did not contest assembly elections.
2022 – Contested elections from Farrukhabad Sadar seat but performed very poorly and was limited to about 2 thousand votes, that is, after becoming MLA, Lewis Khurshid has lost three consecutive assembly elections, while in one election he did not participate at all.

Big question on family inheritance

The identity of the Khurshid family has not been limited to local politics only. This family has also been an important face of the national politics of Congress, but in the last one and a half decade, the election results have indicated that the political hold of the family has continuously weakened. On one hand, Salman Khurshid is not able to achieve consistent success in the Lok Sabha elections, on the other hand Lewis Khurshid has also failed to strengthen his support base at the assembly level. In such a situation, the question is arising whether politics can be taken forward only with the help of family heritage and national identity?

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The Congress organization in Uttar Pradesh has been in a weak position for a long time. The party’s activism at the district and booth level was not the same as before. This has also affected those leaders who were once considered big faces of the party. In Farrukhabad, Congress has been continuously getting marginalized amidst the strengthening base of BJP and Samajwadi Party.

2027 and 2029 will be decisive

Political experts believe that the upcoming 2027 assembly elections and 2029 Lok Sabha elections can prove to be decisive for the Khurshid family. If Congress is not able to increase its support base and the family is not able to achieve electoral success, then the legacy of this family which once had a strong hold on the politics of Farrukhabad may suffer the biggest blow.

At present, the challenge before Salman and Lewis Khurshid is not only to win the elections, but also to save the political legacy which has carved a distinct identity in the politics of Farrukhabad and Congress for decades.