Former Union minister Kapil Sibal has been considered one of the more vocal members of the G-23, the group of Congress leaders demanding internal reforms and elections in the grand old party.
On Tuesday, The Indian Express published an interview with Kapil Sibal on the aftermath of the recent state elections and a meeting of the Congress Working Committee.
Sibal claimed he was not surprised by the Congress's performance in the five states, noting “We have been going downhill since 2014”, referring to the election that first brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power.
“It is really interesting to note that since 2014 about 177 MPs and MLAs and 222 candidates have left the Congress. No other political party has seen this kind of exodus,” Sibal said.
Sibal said he was also not surprised by the results of the Congress Working Committee meeting, held on March 13. The meeting had reposed faith in party chief Sonia Gandhi and resolved to hold a Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session).
“If for eight years a political party and the leadership is not aware of the reasons for its decline; is awaiting for a Chintan Shivir to find out, is living in cuckoo land: Keeping its eyes shut to the reality that confronts us,” Sibal said.
Sibal also appeared to be critical of Sonia Gandhi's long tenure as Congress chief. She had assumed the post in 1998. Rahul Gandhi briefly held the post for less than two years from 2017 to 2019, when he resigned owning up responsibility for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls; this led to Sonia returning as interim chief of the Congress.
Referring to the origin of the Congress in the British era, Sibal told The Indian Express "… history has it that every year the President used to change. It’s only recently that we have had this long tenure.” He argued that while “prominent leaders of our party in the CWC barring a few exceptions” feel that the Congress may not survive without the Gandhi family, it was not a view “many of us share”.
However, Sibal declared he would never join any other party. “I speak today because I am pro-Congress. I will never, will never join another party and over my dead body, the BJP. I will remain in my thoughts and actions a true Congressman,” he told The Indian Express.
He urged the Congress leadership to listen to leaders who were not part of the CWC.
When he asked whether he thought the Gandhi family should step aside, Sibal said, “It is purely my personal view that today at least I want a sab ki Congress (Congress for all). Some others want a ghar ki Congress (Congress of family). I certainly don’t want a ghar ki Congress. And I will fight for a sab ki Congress till my last breath.”
Sibal argued for change in the party structure, implying the Gandhi family should move away. “Anybody who revels in the status quo is against the flow of history. You can’t do that, especially in politics. They have to voluntarily move away. A body nominated by them will never tell them that they should not continue to hold the reins of power. Therefore, they themselves must decide and give someone else a chance, and witness how he or she performs. That someone else will be elected, not nominated,” he told The Indian Express.
Sibal expressed dismay that the Congress had not taken advantage of the skills of Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari in the Lok Sabha and P. Chidambaram in the Rajya Sabha to counter the Narendra Modi government.