Retributions  

Among many other reasons, the latest Assembly elections were interesting was for the number of women stakeholders. There was Sonia Gandhi in Rai Bareili using the tried and tested renunciation weapon; Mamta Bannerjee in West Bengal trying to storm the Left bastion; and the one and only Amma in TamilNadu fighting a rearguard battle to save her fiefdom from Karunanadhi. The results are out and all but Sonia have fallen by the way side. No surprises there, really. Now, broadly speaking, women in Indian politics can be divided into two groups:1.The Pallu group(with the families ties): Sonia Gandhi, Vasundhara Raje Scindhia, Amma, Rabri Devi 2. Hysterical group: Mamta, Mayawati, Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti (Now, this is a broad generalization and I am sure you can find some women leaders who don’t belong to any of these groups.  Also, it is not fair to say that they have no other qualification except belonging to these particular groups. There is also frequent inter-lapping between the two groups)

Generally, the Pallu group commands much more ”respect” and has a much better chance of being in power. The Hysterical women on the other hand are cynically used as rabble rousers at best or at worst provide entertainment to the rest of the country . Remember Sushma Swaraj’s threat to shave off her head if Sonia became the PM? I don’t think Mamta or Sushma are genetically incapable of making a coherent argument without resorting to hysteria. Unfortunately, unless you belong to the pallu group and have family lineage or better still family sacrifices to hang on to, its very difficult for women to break into the Indian political scene. So what they do, they try to outdo the men in being ”men.” The entrenched political class plays along till it suits them  but when it comes to giving real power, they draw the line.

Conversely, some like Mamta Banerjee are never able to outgrow their rebel image and have become more or less a relic in the changed political situation.The most interesting thing is that the Pallu group is no pushover. In fact, they demand and command supreme political power and in their intolerance for dissent behave worse than any despot–remember Emergency? But the real source of their power is the Pallu–they keep the pretense of being the bahu/daughter/mother, emotionally blackmail voters, and exploit their  womanhood to the hilt. Almost all of Sonia Gandhi’s political renunciations shenanigans have been built on the platform of being the wronged Indian bahu.

It is an indicator of  the inherent hypocrisy in Indian society where we are all ready to prostate before a bahu, hail her as the next Devi as long as she remembers the pallu on her head! There is an urgent need for women of substance in Indian politics– Women who don’t come from a politically well-connected family nor mistake lung power and hysteria as an argument. Till then, we can’t really call Indian politics inclusive. And I suspect, neither can we hope for India to truly develop.