As Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar is above party lines. Now, it's her own party, the Congress that has dragged her into a controversy.

The Bihar Congress has listed her as a permanent invitee of the State Congress. Ignoring the fact that she holds a Constitutional office, the Bihar Congress has a listed her as a permanent invitee of the State Congress.

Worse, on a list, it has specified castes on a list of nearly 600 members of the party in Bihar. For Meira Kumar, it listed her as a "chamar". That violates the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act which bans the use of caste names.

A furious Meira Kumar said, "I believe in strict neutrality of the Chair even though I belong to a political party."

An embarrassed Congress accused the media of stealing a confidential document. "This is an internal Congress document, and should not have been highlighted by the media," said Jagdish Tytler, who is in charge of the Bihar Congress.  He added that the document does not reflect the official policy of the party.

In Delhi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi virtually washed her hands off the exercise saying, "I do not know" when reporters confronted her about the controversy at Rashtrapati Bhawan. She said it was not uncommon that political parties in such exercises use caste names to ensure proper social balance, but it is only meant for internal records.