From Rajmata Gayatri Devi to Sushma Swaraj, time and again, Indian history stood witness to the remarkable brilliance of women in politics. In last couple of years, many influential women politicians have firmly held the political scepter in their hands and used it to benefit those around them. One just cannot neglect the contribution of women in the development of India, a fine example of which is CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia who’s the prominent figure behind Rajasthan’s progress.
Considering that 2018 Rajasthan state assembly elections are just around the corner, other political parties in state have braced up with novel strategies to thwart Raje’s growing hold over Rajasthan. Taking a firm step in this direction, the AICC (All India Congress Committee) recently appointed Rehana Rayaz Chisti as the new president of RMC (Rajasthan Mahila Congress) after former RMC head Shakuntala Rawat was promoted as the General Secretary of AIMC (All India Mahila Congress).
Chisti’s appointment is a smart move by the Congress high command to consolidate its base among women and minorities, prior to 2018 Rajasthan elections. Simultaneously, they’ve appointed Sachin Pilot as their new PCC Chief—a step that will clearly give Congress an upper edge in dealing with Rajasthan Gujjars. What we interpret as a process to build up a solid vote bank using minority votes, Congress calls it ‘social engineering’ in its defense. Recent appoints in PCC, RMC and YC (Youth Congress) wings prove this fact.
Rehana Rayaz Chisti is linked with Congress since last 31 years. She started as a grassroots Congress worker back in 1985. In time, she climbed political ladder with her contributions in frontal organizations like Youth Congress and Seva Dal. She also served as the PCC general secretary since 2014. It makes her a strong contender for this post.
We’re not saying she’s incompetent, but Congress surely had more qualified people like former MLAs Poonam Goyal, Mamta Bhupesh, PCC vice president Archana Sharma and former minister Naseem Akhtar Insaf who were interviewed by AICC VP Rahul Gandhi a few months back. Nevertheless, placing Chisti at this post gives them three advantages—she’s a woman, a minority and is quite popular in the lower strata of the society.
There were hushed voices doubting her potential, but the high command gave her this opportunity as they believe her appointment will lure minorities as well as other communities.
Something similar happened in the BJP camp last month. BJP projected Shobharani as their candidate for Dholpur bypolls seeing that she’s a popular face among the Kushwahs. All these preparations made by political parties points in a single direction—the 2018 Lok Sabha elections.
Following Dholpur bypolls, the Congress has actively planned strategies to regain their command in Rajasthan. They’re likely to impose a formidable challenge to BJP by playing their ‘caste card’ in the upcoming elections. Can BJP foil their plans, only time will tell!
