‘Does not know ABC of Congress’: Party leaders denounce Kapil Sibal for asking Gandhis to step down
Sibal is deliberately trying to weaken the party, alleged senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress leaders have denounced senior advocate Kapil Sibal after he, on Tuesday, said that the Gandhi family should step down from party’s leadership positions and give someone else a chance.
On Tuesday evening, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that Sibal did not understand the party’s culture and thus, had made the statements, ANI reportd.
“Kapil Sibal is not a person from Congress culture,” Gehlot said. “He is a renowned advocate who entered Congress. It is not expected from a person who doesn’t know the ABC of Congress to give such statements.”
Sibal’s remarks came days after the Congress’s poor performance in the Assembly polls in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur. The Congress was unseated from power in Punjab and managed to win only 55 of the 690 seats across the five states.
Sibal’s comments on the matter has invited criticism from several Congress leaders.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday told ANI that Sibal was not a good leader for the Congress.
“He never went to any village to work for Congress,” Kharge said. “He is deliberately trying to weaken the party. No one can weaken Sonia Gandhi or the Congress party.”
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that Sibal had received “many advancements because of the Congress”, ANI reported. “Things were good when he was a minister in the UPA [United Progressive Alliance led By Congress] government,” he said. “Now when UPA is not in power he is feeling bad.”
Congress Working Committee member Salman Khurshid also came out in support of the Gandhi family, The Indian Express reported. He said that such matters should be discussed within the organisation and not in the public domain. Khurshid also clarified that the Congress was facing a “crisis of ideas and not leadership”.
On Sunday, Congress had a meeting with the Congress Working Committee to review their poor performance. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered to step down from their respective positions, but the Committee opposed it. It was also decided that Sonia Gandhi would continue as the party chief.