http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Meira-kumar-brings-Jagjivan-to-fore/articleshow/4614252.cms
Meira Kumar brings Jagjivan to fore 4 Jun 2009, 0000 hrs IST, TNN NEW DELHI: A Congress loyalist, Meira Kumar may have sensed a conflict when the entire Opposition welcomed her elevation to the Speaker's post with open arms and rare praises. Congress chose to lay claim to Jagjivan Ram, whose dynasty it has sought to tap by installing Kumar on the high seat, but L K Advani, Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav et al called him their own. The bipartisanship apart, Kumar, handpicked by Sonia Gandhi, may push her party's message among dalits by helping it to re-appropriate Jagjivan Ram, who had to walk out of Congress to reach the apogee of his career. Congress's tactic did not go uncontested with Advani as well as Mulayam and Lalu shrewdly recalling Jagjivan Ram's rift with the party, while paying him tribute as a leader and an administrator. But Congress has no reason to regret the move. For, even the Opposition leaders ended up adding to Jagjivan Ram's resurrection in political discourse as a dalit, in a significant break from the pattern where BSP emerged as the sole dalit voice in UP and some parts of north India. Significantly, BSP, which has often flayed Congress, was part of the chorus welcoming Kumar's ascension to the top chair. May be it was forced by a non-partisan spirit of occasion. But coming from a party whose founders have portrayed themselves as ‘independent’ dalit leaders while condemning Congress as the stable of `co-opted', it marked a major gesture. For BSP, Jagjivan Ram has been the ‘co-opted’ used by Congress against Ambedkar. If BSP's soft tone is dictated by its stumble in the recent polls, Kumar may just help Congress feed its political machine in UP and elsewhere. BSP, after all, has been looking to replace Congress as the dalits's choice nationally and 2009 polls was said to be its chance. Kumar, the politician, however, sits away from the cut-throat war of credits. Her moment came in 2004 when she was chosen social justice minister to become the face of Congress's pursuit of private sector quota. That was when the soft-spoken leader metamorphosed into a rabid campaigner. In hindsight, it was a party roadmap towards recouping dalit agenda by giving Kumar, an elite, the legitimacy as a SC leader. Else, Kumar , who defeated both Mayawati and Ramvilas Paswan in the 1985 Bijnore by-election, is more a woman of details, poring over papers to pick finer points. The GoM made a major change in the draft bill on social security for unorganized sector at her instance. The government had fixed the eligibility age for health insurance at 18 years but Kumar sought it to be slashed to 14. She argued 14-18 workers' group was large as even child labour, below 14, was not banned but only regulated from hazardous sectors. She had her way, eventually. In reservation bill, she found the usage ‘until dereserved’ in an article as inimical to the future of quota. But she passed it on to two colleagues who raised it in the GoM, got it expunged and walked away with the credit. Kumar prefers to work quietly. Add to it a mortal scare of controversy, and the MP from Sasaram may restore the quiet copybook style after five years of feisty Somnath Chatterjee. Lok Sabha could be back to boredom! ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
