Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that he wants a ‘Sab ki Congress’ and expressed that the ‘Gandhis should step aside’. The senior Congress leader drew flak from his party members who accused him of speaking the language of the BJP and the RSS.
“Leadership is in cuckoo land…. I want a ‘Sab ki Congress’. Some want a ‘Ghar ki Congress’,” Sibal had told the Indian Express, adding that the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to lead the party.
The remarks had come after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met on Sunday and after almost five hours of deliberations, urged Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the party and initiate changes to strengthen it. The CWC had also rejected Gandhi’s proposal to make any and every sacrifice for the party, which was construed by some as an offer from the Gandhi family to step aside, and reposed faith in her leadership.
Manickam Tagore, a staunch Rahul Gandhi loyalist, said that the RSS and the BJP want the Gandhis to be out of leadership positions in Congress to kill the party and destroy the idea of India.
He doesn’t know ABC of Congress: Ashok Gehlot
Amid infighting in the Congress party, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has slammed his party colleague and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal for his criticism of the Gandhi family and the top leadership over the recent assembly elections debacle in 5 states.
Gehlot said that Sibal is “not rooted in Congress culture”, and he “doesn`t even know the ABC of the Congress.” Gehlot’s remarks came after Sibal triggered a row with his comments that the Gandhis should step aside and give other leaders a chance to lead the Congress.
“He (Sibal) is a great lawyer, but he did not work hard as other workers do in Congress culture. He got a chance gradually, and with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi and the support of Rahul Gandhi, he got a place in the Union Cabinet directly,’’ Gehlot said.
“Such words coming from a person whom the Congress gave so much is unfortunate. Kapil Sibal does not know the ABC of Congress, he does not understand the basic spirit of the party. Congress has made sacrifices for the country before and after Independence, which Sibal forgets,” he added.