New Delhi:
Salman Khurshid from Congress joined the issue of Kapil Sibal and other critics within the party who have been pushing for a change in leadership, with an extensive post on Facebook. Beginning with the verses of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, he urged critics to look for fault within, arguing that “if the mood of the electorate resists the liberal values we have upheld and cherished, we should be prepared for a long fight instead of looking for shortcuts to return to power. “
“Being excluded from power should not be accepted casually in public life, but if it is the result of a principled policy, it should be accepted with honor … If we are explicitly or implicitly willing to commit to our principles to regain power, we could do so as “We will pack our bags,” their post read.
Without naming Kapil Sibal, who made his criticisms public after the Bihar election results, Khurshid wrote that while “periodic reassessment and redrafting of strategy and logistics is required,” they cannot be carried out in the means for adversaries to “quickly verify match”.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Mr. Sibal said that he had been forced to make his views public because “there has been no dialogue and there does not appear to be any effort for dialogue by the leaders.”
“The time for introspection is over. We know the answers. Congress must be brave and willing to acknowledge them,” Sibal told The Indian Express, pointing to a series of setbacks in the states. Before Bihar, there had been Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, where the party is considered to have ground support.
Stating that the party must “recognize that we are in decline,” he said the need of the moment is 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 ”.
His public criticism was met with strong condemnation from Rajasthan’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot.
“It was not necessary for Mr. Kapil Sibal to mention our internal problem in the media, this has hurt the feelings of party workers across the country,” Mr. Gehlot tweeted.
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