Why Rahul Gandhi has not provided women adequate representation in his core team
Not too far back, just in the month of February, when the political heat in the southern Indian state of Karnataka was rising and when every single party worth its salt was busy getting its political arithmetic right to wrest power in the state, Congress president Rahul Gandhi made a remark that, at least on the face of it, gave women (women in the Congress party, that is) hope.
The Gandhi scion voiced the demand for higher representation for women in ticket distribution. He told former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief G Parameshwara to give out more tickets to women. Turning to the Karnataka leaders at the Stree Shakti Convent at BLD School grounds, the Congress president said, "I want to see more faces in the Assembly and also in the cabinet."
When Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara ended up fielding just 15 women on the 244 seats, it was said that the decision was left to the Karnataka unit and it did not have Rahul Gandhi's stamp of approval.
About five months down the line, on July 17, Rahul Gandhi came out with a list that not only had his stamp of approval but was also drafted by him. This was the list of people who will now be part of Rahul Gandhi's core team. This was a list with the names of people in the Congress Working Committee (CWC). This list, with 51 names, has just seven women, which translates to a representation of 13.7 per cent for women.
Four of the seven women will be part of the permanent invitees and special invitees to the CWC. So, only three women — Sonia Gandhi, Ambika Soni, Kumari Selja — will figure in the 23-member CWC, which comes down to a representation of 13 per cent.
Former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, Rajni Patil, Asha Kumari have been made permanent invitees. All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev is among the special invitees.
The reconstituted CWC has 23 members, 18 permanent invitees and 10 special invitees.
For a leader who shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi barely about 72 hours ago seeking the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill, which will ensure 33 per cent representation for women in Parliament, this highlights a variance between what is said and what is practised.
The CWC is the executive committee of the party. It is the principle decision-making body within the Congress party.
Denying tickets to more women candidates in Karnataka, the party had stated that candidates were selected on the basis of winnability. While it is understandable that a party fighting for its existence makes winnability its cardinal focus, it defeats logic that women can't even get adequate representation in decision-making bodies in the organisational set-up.
While the Congress has made no attempt to hide its bias towards women when it comes to delegating key roles, the party has done a more or less balancing act in terms of age and regional representation in the appointment of CWC members. The average age of CWC members is 68 with the inclusion of leaders such as Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Motilal Vohra, who, at 89, is the party's treasurer. The comparatively younger lot of leaders, such as RPN Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gaurav Gogoi, figure in the list of permanent and special invitees.
In that respect, the revamp of CWC doesn't seem very radical.
Leaders from states where the Congress is the principal party or the principal Opposition party have found a greater representation than states where the party is weak or heavily dependent on other parties.
It is for this reason that leaders from West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar have not found adequate representation in the CWC.
Congress has remained consistently weak in West Bengal, it doesn't have tall leaders in the state beyond Pranab Mukherjee, who is no longer a part of party politics, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the state party chief. In Bihar, Congress is not among the top three parties, it depends on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to stay relevant in the state. In Andhra Pradesh, the party has been losing its electoral base consistently.
With 80 Lok Sabha seats, it is Uttar Pradesh which has been given a representation of five leaders in the CWC — RPN Singh, PL Punia, Keshav Chandra Yadav, Jitin Prasada and Anugrah Narayan Singh.
A party is fully entitled to decide who gets what within its own organisational structure. But this distribution of responsibilities is reflective of a party's priorities.
Going by this list, no, women do not seem to be the Congress' priority. No matter what the party tweets to the PM.
Also read: Karnataka polls prove neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi takes women empowerment seriously