Dear Reader,“There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.” This remark, credited to the late American Congressman William Lacy Clay Sr.—who made it the motto of the Congressional Black Caucus he co-founded in 1971—resonates uncannily in Indian politics every now and then.The latest instance to catch my attention was Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s cryptic response to newspapers on January 14, amid growing speculation of a rapprochement between the NCP faction he leads and the one led by his uncle Sharad Pawar.“There has been no discussion with Pawar saheb at all,” he told reporters, before adding, almost as an afterthought: “I want to make it clear that there are no permanent enemies in politics.” The tell-tale signs of warming relations between the chacha-bhatija parties have already been visible. For the Pune Municipal Corporation and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, the two factions decided to contest together. Not allying with the BJP, which is Ajit Pawar’s State-level partner, was read by many as a strategic withdrawal, or at least tactical patience.On January 10, Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule shared a political platform in Pune for the first time since the bitter split of July 2023. The bitterness had only intensified since then, but political survival, as always, exerts its own gravitational pull. Leaving observers to draw their own conclusions, Ajit Pawar added that he believes in the politics of “addition”, not subtraction—a nice slogan that does a lot of heavy lifting.Some time ago, we saw the dramatic coming together of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray. When a news anchor sought to link Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to this development, the senior BJP leader showed no hesitation in claiming credit, but ironically, the two brothers joined hands to take on the BJP-led Mahayuti in the Mumbai corporation election.Is the rajniti ka ganit changing in Maharashtra? Or is this simply a case of estranged cousins reconciling, in both the Pawar and Thackeray families?But why should such “Hello, Brother” moments baffle anyone, despite the different political trajectories? Blood, as they say, is thicker than water—and often thicker than ideology.If politics can make strange bedfellows, why should family members who turned strangers for a while—in the Pawars’ case, two and a half years—not come together again? Especially when it serves both sides.Far from Maharashtra, in Bihar, a friendly festival unfolded on January 14, the day of Makar Sankranti. Months after a fierce rupture, the estranged family of Lalu Prasad Yadav got together to celebrate in unison. Tej Pratap Yadav milked the feast for all it was worth, inviting leaders from across the political spectrum.As if to forestall any possibility of Tej Pratap drifting towards the BJP, Lalu Prasad was prominently present at the event. Also in attendance was Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha from the BJP, amid speculation that the saffron party might nominate Tej Pratap as an MLC. Ministers from the Bihar government (Ram Kripal Yadav from the BJP and Ashok Choudhary from the Janata Dal (United)) turned up too, as did Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.Lalu, father of Tej Pratap, was the only prominent opposition leader at the gathering. To be fair, Tej Pratap had also invited his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly. But Tejashwi stayed away, possibly to avoid any embarrassment should his elder brother make a disruptive move.Despite the fallout and despite his cryptic responses when asked about joining the NDA, Tej Pratap has been assiduously projecting his bonhomie with father Lalu—this, even though it was Lalu who expelled him for six years from the party in May 2025, citing “irresponsible behaviour not in accordance with the family’s values and traditions”.Similarly, Ajit Pawar—despite being in the NDA and having split the NCP—keeps showering encomiums on his uncle Sharad Pawar, who remains a pillar of the opposition in Maharashtra.The veterans, it appears, are too influential to be ignored. Both Ajit Pawar and Tej Pratap, who fancy themselves as beneficiaries of their legacy, know this all too well. Even Raj Thackeray, despite his sharp differences with Uddhav in the past, never uttered a word against uncle Bal Thackeray, invoking the late patriarch’s ideology at every turn.But political legacy is a double-edged sword. Sons often carry the burden of their fathers and forefathers. Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh have both had occasions to keep themselves at arm’s length from the legacies of Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav respectively. For Tejashwi, this was more pronounced, a bid to escape the charge of “jungle raj” associated with Lalu. In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav could forge an alliance with Mayawati in 2019 only because he made a different kind of outreach to her, markedly different from the bitter relationship his father shared with her.I recall how often the former Union Minister of State for Finance in the NDA, Jayant Sinha, had to face awkward questions due to his father Yashwant Sinha’s strident anti-BJP stance. He often found himself uncomfortable in the Modi government, since Sinha Sr. kept up his attacks on the BJP.In a similar way, Varun Gandhi fell victim to his mother’s falling out with the Sonia Gandhi family and lost out on building himself a position in the Congress. Later, he used the discord to join the BJP, but had to remain largely an outsider there too.If we see this playing out on the large canvas, Rahul Gandhi has had to bear the brunt of being a scion of the Gandhi family, accused of all the wrongdoings attributed to the Congress of the past. Will Priyanka, who is taking on a larger role in the party these days, face the same spleen, or will her Vadra surname come in handy? We will find out soon.It seems as if legacy can be both liability and asset. What do you think? Write and let us know.Until the next newsletter.Anand Mishra | Political Editor, FrontlineWe hope you have been enjoying our newsletters featuring a selection of articles that we believe will be of interest to a cross-section of our readers. Tell us if you like what you read. And also, what you don’t like! Mail us at frontline@thehindu.co.inCONTRIBUTE YOUR COMMENTS