PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA believes that the answer to the “hyper masculinity” of the right wing lies in an “assertive, hyper-feminine” movement. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, the Congress general secretary said that the BJP and the Samajwadi Party, both of whom she calls misogynistic, had been compelled to reach out to women because of the Congress.
As the party’s in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, she said that the Congress was in for the long haul in the state, and that she is currently building the party from the ground up. Excerpts:
Q/ What was the thought behind placing women at the centre of the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh?
A/ The women of Uttar Pradesh deserve full participation in the politics of the state. The percentage of women in the Vidhan Sabha is a dismal 14 per cent. Heinous crimes are committed against women, they are discriminated against, they are oppressed and not a single political party in the state takes them seriously enough to even propose an agenda for their progress, let alone implement it. The flagship programme the BJP has for women is that they handed them a gas cylinder for free every year! It shows their regressive mindset.
The women of UP deserve better and it is about time they are made to realise what a strong and effective force for change they can be. I am happy that through our campaign we have been able to bring women centerstage. No political party can afford to ignore them anymore.
Q/ It has been described as a desperate effort to look for a constituency since the Congress does not have dedicated support bases in the state. Your response.
A/ I would say that is a pretty desperate attempt to find something negative to say about a positive and progressive effort to emancipate the women of Uttar Pradesh and fight for what is rightfully theirs.
Q/ How would you respond to the assessment that the Congress lacks the organisational wherewithal to take the message of the woman-centric campaign to the people?
A/ That is not correct. We have a massive door-to-door campaign on the ground doing just that. It is volunteer based, run and managed entirely by women and it has touched more than 95 lakh households so far.
Q/ Could you tell us a little bit about the genesis of the slogan ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’?
A/ We came up with the slogan in my office two years ago. At the time we wanted to start a campaign specifically for women as we had a discussion in which I had expressed my view that the answer to the hyper masculinity of the right wing probably lies in an assertive hyper-feminine movement. I had said that I felt it was very important to garner femininity as a force for a new kind of politics. I wanted the slogan to have the element of a woman’s self-assertion and to celebrate all that it meant to be a woman along with the fighting spirit that I had been noticing in many young women I had met in Uttar Pradesh, especially those who had been brutalised. They were rejecting their victimhood and fighting for themselves.
Q/ What message has been sought to be conveyed through the choice of women candidates—Unnao victim’s mother, an anti-CAA activist, ASHA worker, a girl who protested against the three farm laws?
A/ All of these women had one thing in common—those who committed crimes against them either had political power or were enabled and protected by it.
The message our party is sending is very clear. We are telling women that political power rightfully belongs to you. It is not meant to oppress you, nor is it meant to protect those who hurt you. It is meant to liberate you and give you strength. We are giving you the chance to take it and use it to protect yourselves and all others who have suffered like you have.
Q/ The face of the Congress’s ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’ campaign joined the BJP, complaining about bribery in ticket allocation.
A/ Well, saying that she was the face of the campaign just because she was one of the women on the cover of the Women’s Manifesto is stretching it a little bit. Nevertheless, I suppose she was disappointed. We had many applicants for every seat and had the difficult task of choosing only one of them to fight. It is natural that some who could not be given a ticket should feel disappointed. More importantly we have fielded a full 40 per cent of women candidates and I am proud to say that we have made a historic new beginning.
Q/ Are you confident that women will act as a distinct class of voters beyond caste and communal divides?
A/ I certainly hope so. They may or they may not at this time because it is a very new and perhaps somewhat radical idea given the kind of politics prevalent in our country today. What I am completely confident of is that eventually they will. I strongly believe that caste and communal divides in politics serve only to strengthen the political parties advocating them. This kind of politics has to be challenged and replaced with a progressive, development oriented politics that truly puts the nation first. I believe that women and young people will be instrumental in demanding this change in the near future.
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Q/ There was immense speculation that you would contest in these elections in your capacity as the face of the campaign. Why did you opt out?
A/ To tell the truth even though there were some internal discussions among the leadership in UP on this topic, I never seriously considered it so the question of “opting out” does not arise. It would be a strategic mistake to do so in my view. We are in this for the long haul in Uttar Pradesh. We are building our party from the ground up and still have some way to go.
Q/ How do you view the pro-women voices being uttered by your opponents, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party?
A/ I am thrilled about it because it shows that we have successfully brought women to the centre of the political discourse in Uttar Pradesh. No party can afford to ignore them anymore. I find it a bit funny, too, that misogynists like Yogi Adityanath are now compelled to re-imagine the world because they suddenly realise that if women consolidate, their politics might be challenged. I love how he suddenly started distributing mobile phones to girls after we announced it and how they have put our scooty promise into their manifesto as well. The Samajwadi Party, another bunch of misogynists, has promised a dole for housewives as well.
What is interesting though, is that while both parties have picked up on these points, none of them are actually proposing anything that might make women independent, educated or even give them job opportunities like we are doing. Again, it reveals their mindsets.
Q/ The Congress had got just about 7 per cent votes. And even in this election, it is not being regarded as a force to reckon with. Will the party spring a surprise?
A/ We will see what happens. I would be happy if our vote percentage increased, of course. But I would not venture to make any predictions.
Q/ Even as the Congress in Uttar Pradesh has dialled up its aggression, there has been an exodus of leaders, including MLAs, and the party is left with just two legislators. Why did they leave?
A/ Each had different reasons. The ones from Raebareli switched loyalties very early on—almost as soon as they were elected. They had business interests they needed to protect from the government so it was more convenient to change allegiances. The ones that left later, I think just did not have the courage to brazen it through this fight. It is a very rough terrain in Uttar Pradesh and it takes a lot of guts to fight on every day. I am happy to say though, that we have thousands of workers and office bearers in the UP Congress who are standing strong and fighting with all they have got.