Congress's 'no alcohol' norm divides party

To allow party members to drink or not have divided the Congress, it seems. The stipulation in the membership form that the individuals seeking to join the party will have to declare that they "abstain from alcohol" came up for discussion at a meeting of Congress leaders here on Tuesday.

Congress' membership is starting on November 1 and a section of leaders at a meeting chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi argued that this stipulation should be omitted from the form.

However, sources said, another section felt that it would have a negative impact on Congress' image.

The meeting, sources said, formed a panel to further deliberate on the issue.

While there was division on the issue of consuming liquor, there was unanimity on the issue of barring its members from consuming drugs. The new members will also have to give an undertaking that they would not criticise the party in public.

The new members will also have to give a declaration that they will not own any property in excess of ceiling laws and will undertake tasks, including "manual labour" prescribed by the party.

"This is an old form and is part of our party constitution. And we expect all Congress members, including new ones, to follow these norms," Madhusudan Mistry, the Chairman of the Central Election Authority of the Congress, was quoted by PTI earlier.

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