After the crushing defeat of the Congress party in five states, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal has made a direct attack on the Congress and the Gandhi family. Kapil Sibal said in an interview to The Indian Express that he was neither surprised by the party’s defeat in the assembly elections nor by the CWC’s decision that he believed in Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. He said that a large number of leaders outside the CWC have completely different perspectives.
Responding to a question on the leadership of the party, Sibal said, “After the debacle we have seen, the leadership (Gandhi family) should leave this position to someone else and who will be elected not nominated. Let that elected person perform.” Kapil Sibal further said that, “There is a Congress outside CWC, if you want, listen to their views. There are many leaders like us who are not in CWC but have a different point of view from Congress. Does it matter to us because we are not in CWC? According to him CWC represents the Congress party all over India. I don’t think it’s right.”
On the question of Gandhi family retreating, Kapil Sibal said, “I cannot talk about others. It is purely my personal view that today at least I want ‘Sab Ki Congress’. Some others want ‘Ghar ki Congress’. I certainly don’t want ‘Ghar ki Congress’. I will fight for ‘Sab Ki Congress’ till my last breath. ‘Sab ki Congress’ means not just getting together, but bringing together all those people in India who don’t want BJP.”
On the question of making Rahul Gandhi the president again, Kapil Sibal said, “We are assuming that Rahul Gandhi is not the president of Congress and the president is Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi went to Punjab and announced that Charanjit Singh Channi would be the Chief Minister. In what capacity did he do this? He is not the president of the party, but he takes all the decisions. He is already the de facto president. So why are they saying that Rahul Gandhi should take back the reins of the party.”