The great Congress ticket rush

She is a eunuch, but Sonam is not short of confidence. Just a while ago she was pestering the AICC media cell staff to issue a denial to a report in a Hindi newspaper that had quoted her as saying that she would contest against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha election if she was denied an Assembly ticket this time.

8220;There are about 25 lakh eunuchs in the country but there is no aayog Commission for them. No political party gives attention to them,8221; she says. She cites several precedents of eunuchs holding political posts in the past8212; Madhya Pradesh MLA Shabnam Masi, Mayors of Gorakhpur and Katni and the Rawatbhata nagarpalika chairperson.

8220;I want a Congress ticket because I want to help the Kinnars and other oppressed and disadvantaged sections of the society. Since I have no family, people know I will work only for their development,8221; says Sonam, who has been frequenting New Delhi for the past month, staying at an accommodation run by the Kinnar community. She has managed to hand over her biodata to everybody who matters8212;Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan Mukul Wasnik and Digvijay Singh, head of the Screening Committee for Rajasthan, among others. And she doesn8217;t need any money from the party for she has over Rs 20 lakh in cash and some gold jewellery to fund her election campaign.

8220;I must clarify that even if I am not given a ticket, I will continue to work for the party and try my luck next time,8221; she says.

Sonam is not alone. There are hundreds like her jostling against each other to catch the attention of and hand over their biodata to leaders who matter in the Congress. While the resourceful and influential among them bring busloads of supporters to bolster their claim, there are others who stay at cheap guesthouses and hotels here, spending the day running from the AICC headquarters to the residences of senior party leaders hoping to get an audience.

Dinesh Dorashri, for instance, is seeking a ticket from Bundi in Rajasthan. His USP: he is the son of a freedom-fighter8217; and has done a world tour on a motorcycle. He has been staying at a Paharganj hotel for the last four days, spending the days at the AICC trying to push his case.

Bapu Singh Tanwar, who is seeking a ticket from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, claimed his association with the party for the last 20 years in different capacities in the Youth Congress and Seva Dal. Apart from being a Zila Panchayat member twice, he claims he was facing 13 8220;political cases8221; in connection with road blockades, demonstrations and actions against 8220;blackmarketeers8221;.

With many former MLAs, MPs and ministers jostling with people like Dorashri and Tanwar, the competition at the Congress headquarters for a change looks like a casteless, classless, and egalitarian level-playing field. Many of them, however, wouldn8217;t know the fate of the huge bundles of their biodatas gathering dust in the chambers of senior leaders.

8220;Those who really deserve the tickets are working in their constituencies. They do not give biodatas. The party already knows about them and their work,8221; said a Screening Committee chairman. But, with a multi-layered patronage system, even serious contenders don8217;t take a chance and prefer to hang around the party headquarters till their names are cleared. Although Congress president Sonia Gandhi has declared her dislike for the quota system in ticket distribution, it is difficult to change the system in a grand old party.

For instance, if there are three names short-listed for a particular constituency, the names of their respective patrons are written in parenthesis when the list comes up for consideration of the Central Election Committee. While the ticket-seekers hang around their patrons, the latter, in turn, fight it out to get the maximum number of their proteacute;geacute;s in the final list.