How many families have multiple MPs in the Indian parliament?

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pose with their mother and Congress Parliamentary Party president Sonia Gandhi after Ms Vadra was sworn in as MP from Wayanad on November 28, 2024. Photo: X/@INCIndia via PTI

Story so far: Taking the place of her brother, Mrs. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday, November 28, 2024 became the fourteenth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to take oath in Parliament. Ms. Vadra recently won the polls from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. The seat was vacated by his brother Rahul Gandhi, who chose to represent the Rae Bareli constituency.

With the inclusion of Ms. Vadra, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family are currently in Parliament. His mother, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in April 2024, while his brother was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli and Wayanad. Although Ms. Vadra has been active in Congress politics over the past decade, she only made her electoral debut last month. In comparison, Mrs Gandhi has been elected to the Lok Sabha six times (once for Amethi, five times for Rae Bareli) and Mr Gandhi is a five-time MP (three times for Amethi, once for Wayanad and now Rae Bareli).

Other members of the Nehru-Gandhi family who served as Congress MPs are Jawaharlal Nehru (1952-1964 from Phulpur), Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (1964-69 from Phulpur), Uma Nehru (1952-62, 1963 from Sitapur), Indira Gandhi. (1964-84 of Rae Bareli, Chikmangalur and Medak), Feroze Gandhi (1952-1960 of Rae Bareli), Shyam Kumari Nehru (1963-69 Rajya Sabha), Arun Nehru (1980-89 of Rae Bareli and Bilhaur), Rajiv Gandhi (1981-91 from Amethi), Sanjay Gandhi (1980 of Amethi).

Two other Gandhis who have been MPs but represent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are Maneka Gandhi (1989-1991, 1996-2024 from Pilbhit and Sultanpur) and Varun Gandhi (2009-2024 from Sultanpur and Pilbhit).

Other families in Parliament

Besides the Gandhis, several other families are currently members of both houses of Parliament. In the Congress itself, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is a Rajya Sabha member while his son Karti Chidambaram is a Lok Sabha MP. Similarly, leader MK Stalin’s family, an ally of the Congress Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is represented by his sister K Kanimozhi, who represents the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha seat, and his relative Dayanadhi Maran, who represents the Chennai Central constituency . Mr. Maran’s father – Murasoli Maran was the nephew of late DMK founder Mr. Karunanidhi.

The Yadav family has the highest number of elected MLAs representing it in the current family. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav is elected from Kannauj and his wife Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri. The sons of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brothers – Dharmendra Yadav and Aditya Yadav – represent Azamgarh and Badaun constituencies respectively. SP veteran and cousin of Mulayam Singh Yadav – Ram Gopal Yadav represents the SP in the Upper House while his son Akshay Yadav is the Firozabad Lok Sabha MP.

Independent MP from Bihar Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav represents the Purnia Lok Sabha while his wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Rajya Sabha MP nominated by the Congress from Chhattisgarh. The Scindia royal family also has two representatives in Parliament. Dushyant Singh, the son of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, is the BJP MP from Jhalawar-Baran while Ms Raje’s nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia represents Guna Lok Sabha. Mr. Scindia is also the Union Communications Minister.

Originally from Maharashtra, the family of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar has three representatives in Parliament. Mr. Pawar is nominated to the Rajya Sabha by his NCP faction while his daughter Supriya Sule represents the Baramati Lok Sabha. His former rebel nephew Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar is also a Rajya Sabha nominee from the NCP. In Karnataka, the Gowda family has two MPs – former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Janata Dal (Secular) and his son and former CM HD of Karnataka Kumaraswamy who represents the Mandya constituency.

18^th Lok Sabha