Reservations in CWC leaves little room for Congressmen at the top

The squeeze for a seat in the party’s apex decision-making body has men on the warpath and the confusion threatening to overtake the CWC polls over the reservation issue is set to rival the sorry spectacle of the just concluded presidential poll.

Here’s the breakup: of the 24 members of the Working Committee, 12 will be nominated by Sonia Gandhi. The other 12 will be elected. But after the 1998 party constitutional amendment, six of the elected posts are required to be reserved, four for women, one for SC/ST and one for the Minorities.

In effect, only six posts are up for grabs. Congress circles fully expect four of these to be bagged by high-profile loyalists like Madhavrao Scindia, Ghulam Nabi Azad, A K Antony and Pranab Mukherjee, all of whom were elected by large margins in 1997.

With just two slots in the ring then, the upcoming polls promise to be bitterly fought and the resultant pressures and counter pressures can only create more headaches for Sonia when she nominates the remaining 12 members of her team.

To make matters worse, loyalists have been saying the quota will apply over and above the open contest. In other words, if a woman comes in the first six with the highest votes, she will be counted in the general, not the reserved category.

As the implications of the 1998 amendment are beginning to sink in, there is widespread consternation among Congressmen who see themselves being left behind in the race for a place in Sonia’s sun. A Gangapotai or a Laxmi Devi, both of whom were sacked from the last CWC for non-contribution, would seem to be better placed to make it to the CWC than a Kamalnath or Priya Ranjan Das Munshi simply because of their gender.

“The Working Committee is like the Congress party’s shadow cabinet. It showcases the best talent the party has. Should the members be chosen through a quota system? It’s like saying the Government should reserve berths in the Cabinet for women and other weaker sections,” grumbled a Congressman.

The dismaying prospect of an election weighted against men has sparked off a furious debate in Congress circles on whether the amendment, which calls for reservations in “all party committees”, applies to the Working Committee or not. And if it does, whether it holds for elected posts or nominated ones or both.

The upshot is confusion and anger and a disturbing gender divide. The men are demanding a rethink. The women are maintaining a discreet silence. With the party establishment tied up in state polls at the moment, 10 Janpath has yet to send out a signal on how far to take the amendment.