Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said “the time for introspection is over” for Congress. (Archive)
New Delhi:
After the Bihar elections exposed Congress as the weakest link in an opposition that fought hard, a high-ranking leader made public his criticism of the party’s leadership and called for “experienced minds, experienced hands, and those who understand political realities. “. revive the organization. Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, in his unfiltered criticism of the leadership, has also said that “the time for introspection is over.”
“… we have to do several things at various levels: organizationally, articulating in the media in whatever form, presenting the people that people want to hear, providing active and thoughtful leadership that can be articulated with great circumspection,”, Kapil Sibal told the Indian Express newspaper. Congressmen, he said, “must recognize that we are in decline.”
Referring to the dismal performance of Congress in Bihar, as well as elections across the country, including in states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, where the party remains a powerful force, Sibal said: “Where we were an alternative, the people of that The state hasn’t. They put their trust in Congress in the way we hoped. So the time for introspection is over. We know the answers. Congress must be brave and willing to acknowledge them. “
Mr. Sibal was one of 23 congressional leaders behind the “letter of dissent” that sparked an all-out showdown within the party in August, but it yielded little in the way of real change other than the demotion of key letter writers.
“As there has been no dialogue and there seems to be no dialogue effort on the part of the leaders and as there is no forum to express my views, I am forced to express them publicly. I am a congressman and I will continue to be a congressman and I hope and pray for Congress to provide the alternative to a power structure that has subverted all the values that the nation represents, “Sibal said in the interview.
In giving his recipe for a full replay, the congressional leader said: “First we need to have a conversation; with experienced minds, experienced hands, with people who understand the political realities of India, people who know what and how to articulate in the media, people who know how to make people listen to them … We need alliances, we need to get closer to people. We can no longer wait for people to come to us. We are not the kind of force we use to be. We need to reach out to others by those who have experience in this business. But to do that we have to have a conversation. “
On whether the leadership was taking the defeat of Bihar as “business as usual”, Mr. Sibal said: “I haven’t heard the leaders say anything to me. So I don’t know. I only hear voices surrounding the leaders … We have not yet heard from the Congress party their views on our recent performance in Bihar and in the by-elections. They may think that everything is fine and that I should continue as usual. “
In last week’s election results in Bihar, the opposition won 110 seats, a dozen less than the mark for the majority in the 243-member assembly. Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the largest party, but Congress, which contested 70 seats but won only 19, is seen to have dragged the opposition tally down. Even the smaller left parties did their best.
A senior RJD leader, Shivanand Tiwari, called Congress a burden on the Mahagathbandhan opposition. “They had put forward 70 candidates, but they didn’t even hold 70 public rallies. Rahul Gandhi came for three days, Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) didn’t come, those who were not familiar with Bihar came here. This is not right,” Tiwari said. he told the ANI news agency. He added scathingly: “The elections were in full swing here and Rahul Gandhi was having a picnic at Priyanka ji’s house in Shimla. Is the party organized like this?”
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