(Aunindyo Chakravarty is senior managing editor, NDTV India and NDTV Profit)
Such was the fear of Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili, that three years after his death, at the 20th party congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Krushchev could still not name him when he spoke of the "cult of personality" that had overtaken the USSR under Djugashvilli, popularly known as JV Stalin.
The concept of the Cult of Personality is, of course, older than that, but it is Kruschev's usage that is believed to have made it popular. Since then, it has been used to describe many political leaders, whose larger-than-life personas have overshadowed their organisations.
Ironically, it is political parties themselves who often create and foster these personality cults to sway voters, organise them behind a charismatic leader and use that to win elections. This is especially true of American Presidential elections, but we have all seen this happen across the world.
Personality cults have become even more effective in our age, dominated and "produced" by TV news and social media. Times of economic crises also become fertile ground for the rise of such personalities, who appear as heroes and saviours.
In the past five years, we have seen it happen with at least three people - Anna Hazare, Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. In each of these cases a movement or a party has got identified with the larger-than-life figure of an individual.
The Aam Aadmi Party has been the latest - and perhaps greatest - beneficiary of the politics of the Cult of Personality. Despite being a movement of volunteers, of ordinary citizens, it has sold itself in the recent elections through one man. Its slogan Paanch Saal Kejriwal and the catchy marketing jingle Maange Dilli Dil Se, Kejriwal Dil Se were both centred around the carefully cultivated persona of Arvind Kejriwal as an everyday hero.
Both Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who have now raised the issue of the growing Kejriwal cult in AAP, were party to this electioneering strategy. In fact, on Tuesday when I asked Prashant Bhushan whether it was right to project Kejriwal instead of the party, he admitted that these things have to be done during an election campaign.
I found Prashant Bhushan's belief that things will then come back to normal after the elections, where the Cult of Personality will suddenly be replaced by complete inner party democracy, a little too utopian. In politics there is no such magic personality cult switch that you can switch on when you want to win an election, and then switch off when you want to have your say.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)