When Will India See Its ‘Royal Wedding’?

Talking to business people in India, you often get the feeling that they already view Britain through the rear-view mirror. In fact, many of them view all other nations in their rear-view mirrors except the U.S., with perhaps the occasional glance China’s way. But there may be one viewer in India who watches the ceremony with keen interest, maybe even a tinge of wistfulness. Because as of tomorrow, Rahul Gandhi will lose another companion from the list of “The World’s Most Eligible Bachelors.” Mr. Gandhi’s love life is kept very closely under wraps. And for good reason. For him, there is probably more at stake than there is even for young William. One of the most noteworthy aspects of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is its very ordinariness.

First, an heir to the British throne is marrying a “commoner,” overturning centuries of tradition whereby a future monarch weds a fellow member of the aristocracy (however ill-matched they may be.) Second, the relevancy of the British monarchy has been declining steadily for even longer than the British Empire, so not surprisingly the wedding of the one-after-the-next-king-of-England is heavy on pomp and light on geopolitical significance. Many of us will be dead by the time this fine young couple ascends to their rightful place atop the thrones of the King and Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and British Dominions Beyond the Seas, if there are any left by then. Third, the future of Britain does not depend on how good a king William is. Britain’s monarchy serves lots of useful purposes in British public life and distinguishes Britain in the world’s eye as a place loosely wrapped in the romance of royalty. But the lives of generations of Britons will not depend on whether he is a good, visionary king with his subjects’ interests at heart or a self-aggrandizing cad bent on gathering for himself whatever spoils he can amass from the public coffers.

Mr. Gandhi has no such luxuries. Soon enough, no doubt, he will be India’s prime minister, the most anticipated anointing of an heir apparent as India has seen in at least a generation. Sure, his position is ultimately dependent on the strength of the Congress party, but this is as close to a dynastic princely ascendancy as exists in a modern democracy. As prime minister, Mr. Gandhi will govern 1.2 billion people, or almost one fifth of the world’s population. And given the powers vested in the office, he has the potential to be the steward of a new phase in India’s development that will see it fulfill its potential. Or he can succumb to the rampant corruption, cronyism and trough-feeding that afflict so many of his counterparts in the political realm and which drag India down. What does this have to do with his choice of bride, should he choose to marry? A good deal.

His father, Rajiv, of course, married his sweetheart but Sonia Gandhi’s foreign background weighed as a political liability until she showed remarkable chutzpah in emerging as the nation’s most powerful politician more than a decade after her husband’s death. All credit to her. But will Rahul be free to choose a non-Indian bride if he wants? Possibly, of course. But possibly not. Because he might see that he has the chance of selecting a bride who will boost his own political future in a way that is more reminiscent of the monarchs of old than Will’s choice of Kate. An Islamic bride, for instance, may help seal Congress’s hold on voters among the 13% of so of India’s population that is Muslim. A devout Hindu bride, in contrast, may allow him to position himself as a secular leader but with his flank covered against attack by the Hindutva crowd. Then again, marriage to a woman connected to a regional political power may help strengthen the reach of Congress in an era when the body politic is increasingly fractured. Marrying a foreigner runs the risk of sending an awkward if unintentional signal that there aren’t women in India that fit with Gandhi men.

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