While attacks on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh from the Congress party and from the party boss, Rahul Gandhi, are not uncommon, his most recent jibe is a calculated one. It also shows that he has been advised well by poll managers of the Congress party in Meghalaya.
The state is a different ball game. Perhaps even an unknown territory for any political player who travels to Shillong from Guwahati. Votes are hardly cast on caste or religious lines. People love their culture, guard it ferociously and fear losing their identity. That is why the BJP unit in Meghalaya found itself in a tricky spot when beef politics was ruling the roost. The meat is the staple food here.
The other intrinsic part of this state’s identity is its 2,000-year-old history, in which several women have been at the helm of affairs. Matriliny is the norm here and has been for hundreds of years. Women have the right to inheritance and succession, which means that property goes to the youngest daughter in a family. She is a ‘Khadduh’ or the custodian of the ancestral property. Children take the mother’s surname.
This also ensures that there is no tag of an ‘illegitimate child’ if the child is not born out a wed lock. This pulls discrimination out from its roots. In most traditional set ups even today, the man moves to his wife’s maternal home after marriage.
The Congress has also calculated well that women have outnumbered men, making up for 50.4 per cent of the registered voters in Meghalaya. The voters’ list, published on Tuesday, has names of 18 lakh voters, of which 9.23 lakh are women.
This sets apart the state from the rest of the country. The difference is stark.
To tap into this votebase, the Congress President attacked the RSS and said it was only interested in disempowering women and giving more power to men. ‘In our society, women have a very large space. They play a crucial role in decision making and running things. However, the RSS does not believe in women's rights and give more power to men to dominate without fear in the society," Rahul said.
Meanwhile, in another attempt at wooing women, especially after the Centre’s thrust on gender equality after the Economic Survey was presented, the women wing of the Congress launched an online campaign attacking PM Narendra Modi on 33% reservation bill for women. Mahila Congress is tweeting with the hashtag #ModiStallsWomen, again getting the timing right.
So when Rahul Gandhi says RSS leaders are not flanked by women and Mahatma Gandhi was, he is trying to drive home the point that the ideology of the Sangh, of which BJP is an off shoot, offers no space to women. A theory, the Gandhi scion hopes will ruffle feminine feathers in the matrilineal society of Meghalaya and make BJP untouchable.
The writer is a News Anchor and Special Correspondent with CNN News18 and has lived a significant part of her life in Shillong.
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