Odd as it may sound, many regional satraps in India have bitten the dust or look like they are on the decline. All for the want of a credible successor. The latest glaring example is that of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has not only lost power in West Bengal, but her world is coming crashing down since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ousted her her government last month after 15 years at the helm.Her promotion of her controversial nephew Abhishek Banerjee tore the Trinamool Congress (TMC) asunder as newly elected MLAs are abandoning the sinking ship of TMC in droves, leaving Mamata stunned.Through his brash actions and statements, Abhishek had brought an invisible split in the party with his supporters and opponents ranged against each other. Now Banerjee and the leaders still loyal to her are a beleaguered lot amid reports that Ritabrata Banerjee could emerge as the “Eknath Shinde” of Bengal.In Maharashtra, 85-year-old Sharad Pawar, once known as the Maratha strongman, is now like the legendary Bhishma lying on the battlefield strewn with arrows.His fault was choosing not the right successor, as his powerful nephew, the late Ajit Pawar, should have been the ideal candidate. However, the senior Pawar opted for his daughter Supriya Sule, who has hardly gone through the rough and tumble of politics. The result was a split in the party aided and abetted by an ambitious BJP.With Ajit Pawar’s tragic death, his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), too, is in turmoil, after senior leaders like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, have been sidelined by Sunetra Pawar, who took over the party from her late husband. Reports have it that her sons, Parth and Jai, call the shots in the organisation.It is the same sob story in the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, in the last four years after the BJP split the party by engineering a revolt by Eknath Shinde. The party founded by Bal Thackeray is being emaciated day by day with the rise of a resurgent BJP, which wants to further its footprint.Former Telangana CM, K. Chandrashekar Rao, who once dreamt of becoming the prime minister from a third front government, not only lost power but also failed to address the succession issue properly, resulting in squabbles in the family.Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, having a record of more than two decades at the helm, saw himself lose power in the last assembly polls for failing to throw up a successor. His close advisor and a controversial IAS officer from Tamil Nadu was seen as his successor, and it cooked the goose of Naveen.Almost the same applies to the late Jayalalithaa, who once ruled Tamil Nadu with an iron hand. Her party has faced divisions and a split, and the advent of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in power in last month’s polls has further accentuated the crisis.Former Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which lost power, could be equally affected by the rise of TVK supremo and matinee idol Vijay, as the assembly polls virtually rejected Stalin’s successor and son, Udhayanidhi Stalin.Doubts are being raised in Jammu and Kashmir over the competence and capability of chief minister Omar Abdullah, who has been anointed successor by National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, as the son lacks the ability to take everyone along. The BJP-led Union government is not making his task easy by being mum on the statehood demand.Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda is a sad man in the winter of his life as his Janata Dal (Secular) (JD (S)) is fading day by day with Karnataka mainly becoming a battlefield of two national parties –the BJP and the Congress. His son and Union minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is keeping a low profile in the changing times despite being a former CM.There is nothing to write home about the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which went on the decline even before the demise of veteran Parkash Singh Badal in 2023, as son Sukhbir did not rise to the occasion and the party’s age-old ties with the BJP floundered.In Haryana, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is almost written off in the changed political scenario polarised between the BJP and Congress, and the party weakened amid divisions in the Chautala family. Former deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s great grandson Dushyant Singh Chautala looks like he has become a non-starter after becoming the deputy chief minister under the BJP led dispensation, leading the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP).In Uttar Pradesh, former prime minister Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhary looks to have become a vassal of the powerful BJP in the state, without whose support he cannot survive.In Bihar, no one knows who the successor of Nitish Kumar is as the Janata Dal (United) (JD (U)) chief is ailing and has given up the chief minister’s post to the BJP in what appear to be political compulsions. His son Nishant Kumar might have been made a minister, he is a political greenhorn.The mercurial Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is yet to announce her successor. Both she and Nitish were once seen as potential PM candidates.As of now, only Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav have succeeded in solving the successor issue for the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), respectively.Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are New Delhi-based journalists.