“Let this be stated upfront. Muslims need not be apologetic at all in demanding a law positively biased towards them when it comes to the issue of targeted violence”The above quote is by National Advisory Council (NAC) member Farah Naqvi on the Communal Violence Bill (CVB) proposed by the NAC, headed by Sonia Gandhi.
During the pre-emergency and emergency days, Indira Gandhi had close associates and advisers who used to take part in making important decisions over the functioning of the Government, it was called "Kitchen Cabinet". The "Kitchen Cabinet" was accused of favoring a family instead of country. The "Kitchen Cabinet" had ministers, bureaucrats and 'family members'. The family members who are not part of Government took crucial decisions and had to face questions from other quarters. Indira Gandhi's "Kitchen Cabinet" is history. But the foundations for Dynasty politics that were firmly laid continue to go strong even today. It should not come as a surprise that the current Government has its own "Kitchen Cabinet".
The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi is the "Kitchen Cabinet" of the UPA (or) of the Congress to be precise. There are some differences between the Kitchen Cabinet of the 1970's and the present one.
- Most of the members of the Kitchen Cabinet are not ministers or bureaucrats.
- Kitchen Cabinet does not report to the Prime Minister.
- The 70's Kitchen Cabinet mostly comprised of elected representatives and the current one majorly consists of self-styled social activists.
- The 70's Kitchen Cabinet didn't exist legally, but the current one exists on papers.
