Jan 18, 1999

Every Congress leader has a fancy title. It's Sonia's keep-them-busy approach.

By Harish Gupta

When out of power, Congressmen are notoriously disunited. In 1978, a year after Indira Gandhi's crushing defeat, the party split. In 1996 it was P.V. Narasimha Rao who was dumped; in 1998 it was the turn of Sitaram Kesri. So when Sonia Gandhi took over as party president on March 14, 1998, history didn't seem to be on her side.

Aside from the minor matter of winning elections -- to some extent fulfilled with the series of victories in November's assembly polls -- Sonia had to keep fidgety and self-important Congressmen busy by setting up some three dozen committees without, at the same time, ruffling too many feathers.

In April and December she was authorised by the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) to restructure the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Yet she desisted from drastic measures. All she did was remove two chief ministers, J.B. Patnaik of Orissa and Lalthanhawla of Mizoram, from the CWC after the party lost in their states. Next, she inducted P.A. Sangma, Rajesh Pilot and Sushil Kumar Shinde into the CWC. So gradual has been Sonia's pace that even the AICC secretariat which she inherited from Kesri remains virtually unaltered.

Sonia believes the Congress needs to undergo a systemic transformation. So she set up a task force under Sangma to suggest the changes the party needed. Her brief to the task force was simple: "If women have been given one-third representation in parties in the UK, Australia and Scandinavian countries, why can't we do it here?" Sangma's team was quick to understand and finished its task within a month in May last year.

Sonia now got to work on another front. To implement the task force's recommendations, amendments to the party constitution were necessary. She formed a committee under K. Karunakaran to examine constitutional changes. Then came a third committee, comprising Sangma and others, to put into effect the changes validated at the AICC session in December. This panel, to submit its report later this month, will, for instance, denote which district Congress committees and which posts will be set aside for women and other special categories. As Sudhir Sawant, AICC secretary, puts it, "Honesty and capability are the two major criteria. Coupled with reservation of party posts for women, SCs, STs, OBCs and Muslims." In concrete terms, this involves identifying some 200 women to head District Congress Committees, finding another 2,500 as PCC delegates and another 300 for the AICC. Finally, eight PCCs will also have to be headed by women. Says party spokesman Ajit Jogi, "Change with continuity is her motto. Most of the PCCs have new presidents, 90 sitting MLAs were denied renomination and 13 ministers were sacked in Madhya Pradesh. Young chief ministers were appointed."

Sonia may have her circle of advisers but she lets nobody take her for granted. Mani Shankar Aiyar was made party spokesman but sacked when he created a controversy by defending the Emergency. Loyalists Arjun Singh, M.L. Fotedar and Lalit Suri were denied Rajya Sabha tickets. Rather, R.D.Pradhan, former IAS officer, was offered a ticket in Maharashtra. That he lost because Congress dissidents voted against him is another story. Pawar himself is paying the price for overreaching himself. To keep him in check, Sonia appointed his rival Pratap Rao Bhosle as Maharashtra pcc chief. Next when Pawar, as leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, wanted to send P.C. Chacko to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance, Sonia brushed him aside and sent Murli Deora instead.

Amid such tight control, there are bursts of liberalism. During the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) polls, Sonia insisted on a contest. Even in the allocation of work to CPP secretaries she gave T. Subbarami Reddy the most important assignments since he had got the highest number of votes. Congressmen have two conclusions to make about her: she is good for the party but it is impossible to read her mind. So they speculate as to what her next plan can be. Dismantling the BJP-led Government during the budget session?

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