New Delhi/Patna: The use of caste names in the list of Bihar PCC office bearers and dragging Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar into a controversy, has landed state Congress chief Anil Sharma and AICC in-charge Jagdish Tytler in trouble.
An AICC General Secretary, who declined to be identified, blamed Sharma for the row that has shown Congress in poor light as Kumar has been made a Permanent Invitee to the PCC and the list also mentioned her caste. Tytler, under whose signature the list was released, was also not spared by him.
"In releasing the list, norms were not followed. In such cases, the AICC releases the list and not the PCC concerned," said the leader in clear hints that Sharma had flouted the laid down process which has generally remained foolproof.
Meanwhile, Kumar said, "I belong to a political party. As a Speaker, I believe in strict neutrality of the chair."
Apparently embarrassed by the use of caste names in the list, Congress President Sonia Gandhi virtually washed her hands off the exercise saying "I do not know" when reporters confronted her about the controversy in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The central leader said it was not uncommon that political parties in such exercises use caste names to ensure proper social balance but it is only meant for internal
records.
Besides, he said that in case of the Lok Sabha Speaker, the PCC has erred in not following the convention as per which a Spaeker is above all such party posts and is supposed to be neutral.
A report from Patna had it that the list was released by Anil Sharma at a press conference there on January six and has been involved in controversies, including on its jumbo size.
Kumar's caste name -- she belongs to the Dalit community -- also finds mention against her name in the list of PCC office-bearers and she is among the 64 permanent invitees.
Since Kumar holds a Constitutional office, she cannot hold any party post, while the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act says that any member of the community cannot
be called by his or her caste name.
The list specifies the castes of the permanent invitees and 99 special invitees.
When contacted, Sharma denied having issued the list with caste names, but said, "We have tried to honour the Lok Sabha Speaker by including her in the list of permanent invitees as per tradition."
"Even when Sadanand Singh was the Speaker of Bihar Assembly, his name figured in the list of permanent invitees of the BPCC," he said.
"But I have not issued any list that carries the caste names of the leaders... had that been so, the list of other office-bearers, including vice president, secretaries and
general secretaries would also have the caste details," he said and described it as "a handiwork of forces inimical to me".
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