From daddy with love... This is a gift probably only south Asian women get from their fathers. We're talking political legacies. From Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto to Sheikh Hasina and Chandrika Kumaratunga, women "” in the middle of assassinations and grief "” have inherited their papa's political mantle and led their countries with an iron hand and strong will.

"While the concept of women inheriting their fathers' political legacy also exists in other regions "” only this month, Park Chung-Hee's daughter Park Geun-Hye launched a bid to be South Korea's president "” it's striking how common this phenomenon is in south Asia. It shows the acceptance of female leaders among south Asians," says Shaun Tandon, who has written extensively on south Asian politics.

For a place that is still struggling with issues like female mortality, foeticide and domestic violence, it is ironic that our part of the world has seen more female leaders taking over their fathers' position as compared to the west that has only witnessed sons coming in power. "We have open politics that allows women to have bigger role. Society at large accepts and welcomes female leadership," reasons P Sahadevan, professor of south Asian studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Plus, it's all about loving your family... "We look at women as behen, bahu and beti, which helps in grabbing vote banks. Also, women in this area probably have greater capacity to sustain and make sacrifices," says Ujjwal Kumar, reader of political science at Delhi University. Mani Shankar Aiyer in one of his interviews had said, "It takes unusual strength of character, unusual qualities of leadership, determination, patriotism and political skills to make oneself worthy of one's political inheritance." Put all those qualities together in one person and most likely it's a woman. "Politics is often controlled by families in south Asia, and this makes it possible for powerful first-generation leaders to nominate their political successors from their families," adds Niraja Gopal Jayal, professor of law and governance at JNU.

Experts believe the reason behind daughters following in daddy's footsteps is the dynastic nature of our politics and society at large. "Our psyche is more dynastic. In the west you have to prove yourself as good orators and fund-raisers before you get elected. But here people easily accept that when a man leaves, a woman has to take over," explains women's activist Ranjana Kumari.

Cynics, on their part, argue that a woman inheriting her father's legacy is a mere accident of birth. "The first choice is mostly the son, only by accident is the legacy passed on to daughters," says Pushpesh Pant, dean of international studies at JNU. "Indira Gandhi was the only child, Benazir Bhutto and Chandrika Kumaratunga are the eldest among siblings, Hasina Wajed is the sole survivor of a family that was massacred and Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Khalida Zia were housewives at the time of their personal tragedies and did not have children old enough to be seated in their fathers' office. So mostly these women gain from a sympathy wave," says Roopa Bakshi, an expert on south Asia.