New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- In an era often reduced to ideological labels, a structural lens can reveal how political power is actually seized and consolidated. The careers of Indira Gandhi and Donald Trump suggest that charismatic leaders can, under certain conditions, disrupt and reshape major legacy parties from within.

As a teenager in India in 1969, I witnessed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi challenge the Congress Party's powerful "syndicate". Decades later, I observed Donald Trump mount a similar insurgency against the Republican establishment. While the institutional settings were very different, both cases show how party gatekeepers can misread the scale of a leader's appeal.

Same Political Pattern, Elite Miscalculation

In India, the im...