E-Paper
CWC meet: Sibal backtracks after reacting to ‘colluding with BJP’ remark
Sibal, one of the top legal brains of the party, had mentioned earlier in the day that Gandhi reportedly alleged in the meeting that seniors are colluding with the BJP
New Delhi: Amid the fireworks in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday, a friction between the veterans and Team Rahul Gandhi played out publicly on Twitter for a few minutes , when party’s communication chief Randeep Singh Surjewala rejected former Union minister Kapil Sibal’s allegations that Rahul accused some senior leaders of colluding with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the crucial meeting.
Also read: LIVE Updates of CWC meeting here
“Rahul Gandhi hasn’t said a word of this nature nor alluded to it. Please don’t be misled by false media discourse or misinformation being spread,” Surjewala replied to Sibal on Twitter even when the meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body was still in progress.
Sibal, one of the top legal brains of the Congress, had mentioned earlier in the day that Gandhi reportedly alleged in the meeting that seniors are colluding with the BJP.
No such allegation or even indication was made by Rahul in the meeting, party leaders said.
Sibal, too, withdrew his statement quickly. “Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I, therefore, withdraw my tweet,” he tweeted as a rejoinder to his earlier angry outburst.
In his previous tweet, Sibal, who is not a member of the CWC, possibly got carried away by the reports appearing on social media, listed his acts of loyalty to underline that in his 30 years’ association with the Congress, he had never made any statement in favour of the BJP on any issue.
He pointed out how he “succeeded in Rajasthan high court defending the Congress party”, and he is “defending the party in Manipur to bring down BJP government”.
Sources said that Rahul took the initiative to defuse the situation and it was clarified to Sibal that no such accusations against the leaders who wrote the letter was made by the former Congress president.
In his tweet to Sibal, Surjewala also called upon the lawyer-turned-politician to stand united in the fight against the BJP. “... yes, we all need to work together in fighting the draconian (Narendra) Modi rule rather than hurting each other and the Congress,” Surjewala said.
Later, Manickam Tagore, who represents Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga constituency in the Lok Sabha, also responded to Sibal’s outburst and tweeted, “Kapil Sibal ji we all have great respect for you. @INCIndia made you Cabinet minister and gives a lot of importance. you are NOT inside the CWC. You are reacting to a leak that is false. It does not reflect well on a leader as senior as you are, to react to hearsay!”
The leaked letter seeking major changes in the functioning of the party sparked a raging debate in the CWC.
At the meeting, Rahul had questioned the timing of the letter and pointed out that it was sent when the party was facing crisis in Rajasthan and more importantly since his mother was unwell.
A leader said the party high command is livid about the leaked letter and has even identified the possible brains behind the move.
At the beginning of the meeting, general secretary K C Venugopal, the in-charge of the organisation, also lashed out at the dissenters, who had written the letter.
His opening gambit in the meeting was a pointed question: “Why was the letter leaked?”
