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NATION,
CONGRESS
Bahu and the Begum
Noor
Bano's spirited fight in the CPP elections portends trouble ahead for
Sonia Gandhi
By
Lakshmi Iyer
 The
congress likes nothing more than intrigues. What it loves above all are
inner-party battles. Party President Sonia Gandhi got a taste of this
and received the first warning signal of dissatisfaction with her leadership
from MPs when elections were held last week to five posts of the Congress
Party in Parliament (CPP) executive committee. Though Sonia's managers
manoeuvred to get their candidates through, the dissidents managed to
score a point.
Of the Congress'
172 MPs -- Lok Sabha, 113, Rajya Sabha, 59 -- 143 participated in the
election. A substantial 76 MPs voted for Begum Noor Bano for the post
of Lok Sabha secretary, even though she was openly identified with dissident
leader and Congress Working Committee member Jitendra Prasada. Campaigning
on the ostensible plank of inner-party democracy, Bano, the lone Muslim
woman in the Lok Sabha -- she's the daughter-in-law of the former royal
family of Rampur -- lost the secretary's post by nine votes to Sona Ram
Choudhary. In the run-up to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) elections
in October, the dissidents used the CPP to test the waters. The encouraging
response to Bano has ensured that Sonia's re-election as Congress president
won't necessarily be uncontested.
Not that
the dissident camp is entirely pleased. It had reckoned that Bano would
give more than a tough fight. She was expected to win. She was fielded
with a view to bulldoze even diehard Sonia loyalists into voting for a
"minority woman". "If the Begum does not win, the party
risks losing its secular credentials," Bano's campaigners argued
over rounds of dinners for MPs hosted by both royalty -- Jitendra Prasada,
K.P. Singh Deo and Preneet Kaur -- and commoners such as Ahmed Patel and
Renuka Chowdhury.
Besides
the regal minority touch, Bano's sponsors also stressed her courage in
questioning Sonia's private secretary Vincent George's right to speak
on party matters. They hoped to capitalise on the fierce anger in the
party at George's high-handedness in controlling access to Sonia. To emphasise
this point, the dissidents also endorsed Kapil Sibal's candidature for
the post of Rajya Sabha secretary. Earlier this year, Sibal had publicly
lambasted the Sonia coterie.
When it
became clear the Prasada camp was turning the CPP election into a dress
rehearsal for the AICC polls, the loyalists sought to avoid a contest.
First, pro-Sonia MPs stayed out. Later, Madhavrao Scindia, the party's
deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, persuaded a few aspirants to drop out
through a system of drawing lots. The "no contest" drive led
the loyalists to pool their resources behind Choudhary and Paban Ghatowar
in the Lok Sabha and Suresh Kalmadi in the Rajya Sabha.
Initially
the loyalists treated Bano's victory as a foregone conclusion and concentrated
on ensuring Kalmadi's victory over Sibal. CPP spokesperson Margaret Alva
even threw an election-eve dinner to canvass support for Kalmadi. Clearly,
the Sonia camp hadn't reckoned on a late swing.
On polling
day, the loyalists changed priorities. Strategist Arjun Singh lobbied
frenetically to ensure Bano's defeat and the election of Sibal and Naresh
Pugalia as treasurer. "He (Arjun) told us Sibal had nothing against
George but that Kalmadi was untrustworthy as he was a one-time Pawar associate,"
explained a loyalist MP. Finally, Sibal won by two votes.
At the end
of it all, Bano's defeat is hurting the dissidents. A dissident carpingly
remarked that Sonia had addressed a pro-women's reservation rally just
two days before the poll but had done nothing to help the sole woman candidate.
He was protesting too much. But others believe "the CPP election
has shown a credible challenger to Sonia for AICC president could expect
at least 25 per cent support".
The question
that is now preoccupying the dissidents is: who will be the sacrificial
lamb in October? Heading the list is Pranab Mukherjee who is said to have
found inspiration after two meetings with former prime minister P.V. Narasimha
Rao. If it's not him, it could be Prasada. And if neither muster the courage,
the mantle may fall once again on the white chiffon-clad Begum of Rampur.
"I'm a born fighter," she says, unfazed by what she sees is
a momentary setback.
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