Amid increasing exits from a crisis-ridden Congress, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday raised the banner of revolt by saying that the Congress continues to run without a president and no one knows who is taking decisions.
Addressing a press conference, Sibal said: “In Congress, there is no elected president now. We don’t know who is taking decisions.” Sibal questioned the delay in the election of the party president, saying the party was in a situation where it should not be. Raising an alert on an urgent call for an immediate Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to be called, Sibal said, “The demand is growing to call a CWC meet to have some dialogue. Why are people leaving? Maybe, we should see whether it is our fault. Ironically, those who were supposed to be close to the central leadership have left them. I would urge those leaders who left to come back because the Congress alone can save the country,” he added.
Sibal, who is a part of the “G-23” or group of 23 leaders who wrote last year to Sonia Gandhi asking for sweeping changes in the party and an “effective leadership”, also said that he was speaking on behalf of like-minded partymen who wrote a letter last year to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and are still awaiting action with regard to elections to the office of party chief. Sibal said, “We are G-23, definitely not Ji Huzoor-23. We will keep raising issues and asking questions.” Another G-23 leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has written to Sonia Gandhi asking for a CWC meeting on the string of exits from the party and its crisis in Punjab.
The comments come in the middle of the Congress’ crisis in Punjab after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned on Tuesday from the PCC chief’s post. Sidhu’s announcement came as a shock to the Congress central leadership, which oversaw a leadership change in the state in the last 10 days.
Talking specifically about Punjab, Sibal said, “What’s happening in Punjab, which is just 300 km away from the Pakistan border, it is an advantage to ISI and Pakistan. We know the history of Punjab and the rise of extremism there… Congress should ensure that they remain united.” In the recent past, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, and Sushmita Dev have left the Congress. Former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro is the latest to resign from the Congress and join the Trinamool Congress.
