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Double-speak

IN THE high drama that was played out in the Lok Sabha on May 6, members of the Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, theSamata Party, the JD(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal emerged as the obvious villains who silenced the majority voice represented by the BJP, the Congress, the Left and some smaller groups including the NCP.

But had the `good guys' — who are officially committed to seeing the women's reservation bill through — yielded space for women in their own party structures, India might not have needed such a legislation in the first place.

Though of late some parties have gone through the motions of amending their constitutions to reserve space for women within their organisational structures, these provisions are implemented more in the breach. And, when implemented, the effort often borders on tokenism.

This despite many a party having women at the forefront; be it the Congress which has had five women presidents in its 118-year-long history, the Samata Party which had a woman president in Jaya Jaitley, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the AIADMK where the writ of Mayawati and Jayalalithaa respectively run large, or the People's Democratic Party where Mehbooba Mufti is the driving force.

Even in the Congress, which amended its constitution in 1998 to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in different committees, the affirmative measure has not translated into action; particularly at the top. As per the amendment, the 25-member Congress Working Committee (CWC) — the highest decision-making body of the party — should have at least eight women.

But, till the recent reshuffle, the CWC had only five women including the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. And, the reshuffle took their strength to six; still two short. While the Congress president has the prerogative to relax the percentage of sectoral representation — be it for women, SCs/STs/OBCs or minorities — the vacancies for women have as yet not been encroached up.

The BJP amended its constitution towards the twilight years of the last millennium to give women 7 to 10 per cent assured seats in all bodies of the organisation from the mandal level to the central party office. At the level of central office-bearers, the reservation policy clubs together women and SCs/STs and mandates that six of the 21 posts should go to them.

In the national executive — which has a membership of 75 including the BJP president — the party constitution stipulates that 10 members have to be women. With reservation at all levels of the organisational set-up being far short of one-third, there is a move to increase representation for women through another amendment to the party constitution.

Said to be a practitioner of the most egalitarian of ideologies, the CPI(M) shies away from reservation and prides itself on being an organisation where party work is the only yardstick for entering the organisational hierarchy. Be that as it may, the Politburo — the think tank of the party — is yet to have a woman member though the organisation has never lacked committed women workers; a most recent example being the late Susheela Gopalan who, many a marxist woman activist feels, should have entered that "hallowed" space.

However, Brinda Karat — who walked out of the party congress in 1998 protesting against the reduced presence of women in the panel drawn up for electing the next central committee — maintains that the number of women joining the organisation was increasing despite it being relatively more difficult for anyone to enter the CPI(M) than any other party. "At present, 15 per cent of offices in all local and district committees are occupied by women. There is an improvement even in the State committees and the central committee today has six women; all without reservation."

If there is one party that has put its words into action, it, according to Veena Nayyar of Women's Political Watch, is the AIADMK. "She (Ms. Jayalalithaa) has mainstreamed women at all levels of her organisation; bringing in 33 per cent women as office-holders in the party which adds up to 2,94,000 women."

Curiously, the Shiv Sena — which has no woman representation in its policy-making machinery — has the highest number of women in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. But, women have never made it to the `netey mandali' (council of leaders) of the Sena. Why, women do not find representation even in the Sena's second rung leadership. And by all indications this is a situation that is unlikely to change in a hurry.

The Socialists and the Samajwadi Party, too, do not appear to care for the causes they wear on their respective sleeves. Or so it would seem from their stiff opposition to the bill and the derogatory remarks made by them in the ruckus that has been the constant companion of this legislation whenever it has come up in Parliament.

As for the TDP, its two prominent women faded out when Renuka Chowdhury walked out and actress Jayaprada finished her term in the Rajya Sabha. Though the party has enforced 25 per cent reservation for women in the organisation at the village and mandal level, and 20 per cent at the district level, the top leadership remains male-dominated with the 12-member Polit Bureau having only one woman.

So, across the political spectrum, the glass ceiling has begun to crack. That it will crumble is probably inevitable. When, is the question.

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