What do politicians guard the most? Home turf, of course! That is exactly what Congress MP from Tamil Nadu E M Sudarsana Natchiappan was doing when he tried to keep fellow party MP Jayanthi Natarajan out of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which is studying the Women’s Reservation Bill. Natchiappan, who heads the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, almost succeeded in his machinations when he secured the nomination of Mahila Congress chief Prabha Thakur from the far-off Rajasthan to the panel. However, Natarajan, mindful of the fact that the bill is close to Sonia Gandhi’s heart and therefore a prized issue, quickly pulled some strings, got Thakur out and made it to the committee. Just goes to show Natchiappan was not worried without reason. But the big question is whether it is the end of a battle or the beginning of one.
