Chandigarh, September 2
Hell hath no fury like Punjab Mahila Congress leaders scorned. And the women are not going to sit back and lick their wounds. In fact they plan to take their grievance to the very top -- to party President Sonia Gandhi. Their gripe - Punjab Congress leaders have divided the women quota among themselves by nominating their wives or relatives as delegates of the Punjab Pradesh Congress.

The 234-member Pradesh Congress list has left the Mahila Congress members aghast. Expecting a fair representation with 25 per cent quota being given to women delegates for the first time in the state, they now face the prospect of having been upstaged by their male colleagues yet again.

State Mahila Congress chief Ratna while talking to TNS said “even my district Presidents have been ignored in favour of nominating wives of legislators and senior party members”. Ratna said she even facilitated meetings of active women workers with Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) Usha Thakkar but to no avail. She said the present list of women delegates besides giving representation to relatives of political leaders, also consisted of women who no one had heard of till now.

Mahila district Congress presidents are a dejected lot. Amritsar city President Preeti said she had been working for the party for 15 years. “If senior leaders of the party are to indulge in ‘parivarvaad’ only, what is the use of working in the field,” she said. Preeti said she and other district Congress presidents had decided to approach Sonia Gandhi.

Amritsar (rural) chief Shivinder Kaur Boparai said she and a few others were even asked for their photographs only to find unknown women nominated as delegates yesterday. Shivinde said the Congress high command should now get party work done from the wives of legislators who do not even step out of their homes during electioneering.

Gurdaspur district President Tripta Thakur said she was running two NGOs and had even contributed to the part membership drive. “We were confident that we would be nominated due to our work,” she said.

Among those who have got in their wives include Raja Sansi legislator Sukh Sarkaria, Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Mohali legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu and Nihalsinghwala legislator Ajit Singh Shant. Quila Raipur legislator Jassi Khangura has been able to win a nomination for his mother, Gurdial Kaur Khangura. Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa’s wife Charanjt Kaur and former MP Shamsher Singh Dullo’s wife, Harbans Kaur, have also been nominated. The latter two are, however, active politically.