Sidelined, CWC member Meira Kumar resigns

Sidelined, CWC member Meira Kumar resigns
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 2: Upset over being steadily pushed to the sidelines, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and Dalit leader Meira Kumar quit the party on Wednesday. The former Lok Sabha MP and daughter of Jagjivan Ram announced her decision in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi saying ``she was resigning from the CWC and primary membership of the Congress party.''

Speaking to The Indian Express, Meira said she took this step as she felt the party had become ``directionless'' and had drifted from its ideology. She declined to say what she planned next.

While party circles have been aware of Meira's declining influence for quite a while, many were surprised. Insiders said the timing was calculated to cause embarrassment to the party with Assembly elections in Bihar, Haryana, Orissa and Manipur round the corner.

Though her resignation may not be as damaging as the Pawar revolt, her pedigree being the daughter of one of the most promiment Dalit leaders and the fact that she was a womanpolitician could put Sonia on the defensive. Meira, who was nominated to the CWC by former party chief Sitaram Kesri, is believed to have fallen out of favour with Sonia after she was ``suspected'' to be in the Pawar camp. While the distancing reportedly began when she was axed as AICC general secretary in last year's reshuffle, the flashpoint came when she was recently passed over for consideration for a Rajya Sabha seat from Delhi.