Free to go join any party: Adhir on Sibal
NEW DELHI: Attacking veteran Congress leader Kapil Sibal over his introspection remark, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said that the former Union minister was free to join a new party or form one instead of making such embarrassing remarks against the Congress, as rumblings in the organisation continued in the wake of its dismal electoral performances.
“He (Sibal) is a senior Congress leader and has the accessibility and proximity to top leaders of the party. He can raise the issues with them instead of making such embarrassing remarks in public. He is free to form a new party or join one if he feels that the Congress is not the right place,” Chowdhury said.
In the wake of the poll outcome, a war of words erupted in the party after Sibal, one of the 23 signatories to a letter to the Congress president in August that sought internal elections and an organisational overhaul, questioned the leadership on the poll debacle and asked if it was “business as usual”.
“Earlier, too, Sibal has spoken about this. He seems to be very concerned about the Congress and its need for introspection. But he was not seen campaigning for the party in the recent elections in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, or Gujarat,” said Chowdhury.
He added that mere talking will not achieve anything.
Speaking without doing anything doesn’t mean introspection. “If he had gone to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, he could have proved that what he is saying is correct and that he strengthened the position of Congress. Speaking without doing anything doesn’t mean introspection,” Chowdhury added.
Chadhury’s comments came a day after the Bihar and Gujarat incharges of the Congress on Tuesday offered to resign before a special committee formed in August to assist party chief Sonia Gandhi on organisational matters,
Shaktisinh Gohil, the Congress’s Bihar incharge, and Rajeev Satav, who looks after the party affairs in Gujarat, offered to resign in the meeting, according to a Congress functionary who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of the outcome of the Bihar assembly elections and by-elections to 58 seats across 11 states.
In Bihar, the Congress won just 19 of the 70 seats it contested and, according to some analysts, impacted the chances of the opposition alliance to oust the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
The party failed to win any seat in the by-elections to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha and Telangana.
The meeting was initially called to discuss the status of the party’s nationwide campaign against three new farm laws, which have been opposed by some quarters, but later the members asked Gohil and Satav to join and discuss the poll outcome.
The six-member special committee was formed by Gandhi as part of the party’s reshuffle drive carried out in September. It comprises AK Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Only four members of the panel — Soni, Venugopal, Surjewala and Wasnik (who was a part of the 23 dissenters) — attended Tuesday’s meeting.
As Sibal spoke out publicly and insisted that the Congress needs efficient and senior leaders to manage elections, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot countered him and claimed that his remarks have “hurt the sentiments” of workers and reminded him that the party had been through crisis several times in the past.
On Tuesday, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid, too, took a dig at Sibal. In a Facebook post, Khurshid said if the mood of the electorate is resistant to the liberal values the party has espoused and cherished, it should be prepared for a long struggle rather than look for short cuts to get back into power.
ON TUESDAY, SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER AND FORMER UNION MINISTER SALMAN KHURSHID, TOO, TOOK A DIG AT SIBAL