Rahul Gandhi wants 50% women in Congress central body

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi proposes to build a corporate-like system in the party headquarters for proper coordination and  communication between party leaders and ground workers. At his first interaction with party’s newly appointed office-bearers, Rahul said he wanted the AICC headquarters to work as an “integrated unit”. Laying stress on communication upgrade in the AICC, he asked office-bearers to work together for success in the forthcoming state and the Lok Sabha elections.

Unveiling his plans for the elections, he asked office bearers to first focus on strengthening the party at the district and block levels before kicking off the poll campaign. Those who attended the meeting told dna that party leaders were asked to avoid personal attacks against the Opposition and to focus on ideology and policies.

There were not many takers to Rahul surprise at the few women in the new AICC team. Many office bearers were heard murmuring that nobody had prevented him from picking a team with more women, as he had been given a free hand to select his team by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. There is just one woman, Ambika Soni, among a dozen AICC general secretaries and just five women among 44 secretaries.

Party spokesman Bhakta Charan Das also confirmed that Rahul talked about “how to ensure 50 per cent representation to women in AICC.” Talking to reporters, he said, it was not about women’s reservation, but about their representation. “When he observed that their presence is not in the proportion it should be or rather much less, but it will definitely be 50 per cent in the coming two-three years,” Das said. Congress leaders however feel the figure would be near impossible to reach.