Rahul lays stress on women’s greater participation in party

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

If what Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi said today is to be believed, women will occupy far greater and larger positions in the party in near future.

This was the unambiguous message from Gandhi at an event organised by the Congress women’s wing today. The very fact that the first function Gandhi chose to address after being elected party chief this December 11 was that of Mahila Congress is significant. Even more significant is what he said at the function which was dedicated to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and was titled, “I am courage”.

“I know we will no longer have a woman Congress president (read Sonia Gandhi) but we are going to make up for it. The first major beneficiary of Congress reorganisation will be women and there will be fair distribution of roles and responsibilities,” Gandhi told a gathering of top Congress leaders featuring Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Anand Sharma, Kumari Selja, Rajni Patil and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Deb.

The Congress has long been trying to raise intra-party reservation for women to 50 per cent from the earlier cap of 33 per cent. The leaders who attended the closed-door event at Constitution Club here also spoke of Gandhi reiterating his sense of confidence about Gujarat.

Having yesterday predicted a “zabardast (stunning) result for the Congress in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Rahul today told his rank and file, ‘You will all be surprised with the Gujarat results”. He underlined the party’s unity in attaining the collective purpose in Gujarat. “In Gujarat, we fought together against the BJP’s 22 years of misrule. This is the way we should always be. This is the way we should always fight elections, together.”

The message comes at a time when the party remains faction-ridden in most states and has always faced internal challenges on the eve of most elections. In Punjab, on the poll eve, Congress affairs were dominated by an open war between CM Amarinder Singh and former Punjab Congress chief Partap Bajwa. 

The Himachal poll eve saw a replay of the same story with CM Virbhadra Singh and state chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu ceasing to attend the rallies together. Factionalism is Gandhi’s daunting challenge in many other states.

Will back women’s reservation Bill

• Recalling the legacy of his father — the late PM Rajiv Gandhi who implemented women’s quota in panchayats and local bodies — Rahul stressed the Congress' resolve to back the long-pending women’s reservation Bill in House
• “We will ensure the BJP government passes the women’s quota Bill promising 33% reservations for women in Parliament and state legislatures,” he said