Kapil Sibal suggests Gandhis make way for new leader, Congress netas slam him
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said he wanted a ‘Sab ki Congress’ which meant getting together all those people in India who don’t want the BJP
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday reiterated the need for reforms in the party, saying it is time the Gandhis step aside from the leadership role for a new leader. In an interview to The Indian Express, Sibal said he is neither surprised by the Congress' Assembly poll drubbing in the five state elections nor the Congress Working Committee's reaffirmed faith in Sonia Gandhi's leadership.
"The Gandhis should voluntarily move away because a body nominated by them will never tell them that they should not continue to hold the reins of power," the 73-year-old leader, who is among the members of rebel group called G-23 said.
In 2020, Sibal was a signatory to a letter written by 23 Congress leaders to Sonia Gandhi, calling for sweeping reforms in the party including a 'full time leadership' which is active on the field, elections to the CWC and an institutionalised leadership mechanism to guide the party's 'revival'.
Slamming the Grand Old Party's decision to hold a chintan shivir (brainstorming session) after the budget session, Sibal said,"The leadership is living in a cuckoo land if it is not aware of the reasons for the party's decline even after eight years."
“That ‘chintan’ should all have been done… And they should allow someone else to lead. Give someone else a chance."
Claiming that a large number of Congress leaders hold a view entirely to that of CWC which reaffirmed faith in Sonia Gandhi's leadership, the party leader said, "There is a Congress outside the CWC… kindly listen to their views, if you choose to… Lots of leaders like us who are not in the CWC but in the Congress have an entirely different point of view. Is it that we don’t matter because we are not in the CWC? Therefore the CWC, according to them, represents the Congress party in India."
Read- Explained: What is CWC, the highest decision-making body of Congress
"I don’t think that’s correct. There are lots of Congressmen around the country, people from Kerala, from Assam, from Jammu and Kashmir, from Maharashtra, from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, who don’t hold that point of view,” he said.
Calling for a 'Sab Ki Congress', Sibal said he doesn't want a 'Ghar Ki Congress' like some Congress leaders.
"This ‘Sab ki Congress’ means just not getting together, but getting together all those people in India who don’t want the BJP,” he said.
Soon after Sibal's explosive interview, the Congress came out in open to slam the party colleague.
“Dr Harshvardhan did not ask you to step aside from Chandni Chowk. He fought an election and defeated you Kapil Sibal. Those who want to lead Congress are free to fight upcoming election for the position of party president instead of chanting everyday against current leadership,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted.
The Congress received a drubbing in all five states that went to polls recently. It was routed by the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, which swept the polls by winning 92 seats. The Grand Old Party won just two seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, and failed to unseat the BJP in Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.
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