It's a family affair in Congress

NEW DELHI: It all runs in the family in Congress. Mothers, sons, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, sisters, wives and even personal assistants of Congress MPs, MLAs and senior leaders have found their way in the state lists of party delegates, who elect Congress’ central leadership and the party’s Working Committee.

The lists of state Congress units’ delegates, chosen after a long drawn-out process of membership drive and block and district-level election process, are crammed with names of kin of local leaders. These Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates elect the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) delegates, who in turn will elect members of Congress Working Committee ( CWC), the highest decision-making body of Congress. AICC will have a one-day session on Tuesday in New Delhi which will lead up to the plenary session in December. The sessions will wrap up the year-long exercise of electing Congress president.

The lists, however, read like who’s who of local politics. Punjab, for instance, has 65 relatives as PCC delegates. Some leaders like former Punjab Congress chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and MP P S Bajwa have been lucky as more than one person from their family has become a delegate. While Ms Bhattal’s mother, son-in-law and niece have been made delegates, Mr Bajwa’s wife and son have found a place on the list.

Uttar Pradesh has a similar story to tell. Bareilly MP Praveen Aron’s wife Supriya, wife and son of MP Jagdambika Pal, son and son-in-law of former UP chief minister Ram Naresh Yadav, son of former state unit chief Arun Kumar Singh Munna and senior leader Pramod Tiwari’s daughter Aradhna Mishra are just some of the prominent names on the delegate list from UP.

In Rajasthan also senior leaders have had a big say in the list. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav and his minister Mahipal Maderna’s daughter Divya are delegates from Rajasthan. Congress MP and former minister Sis Ram Ola’s daughter-in-law Raj Bala has also been selected.

It also pays to remain loyal to the netas. While Congress MP Ashwani Kumar’s close aide Amarjit Gosai has become a delegate from Punjab, Union minister C P Joshi’s friend Anil Parikh has found a place in the Rajasthan list. Even Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh’s personal staff are delegates from UP.