Poll Results Never Surprised Me, Cong Going Downhill Since 2014: Kapil Sibal

Mumbai: Days after the Congress Working Committee met to discuss the party’s dismal performance in the state elections in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab — results of which were announced last week — dissenting Congress leader, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that the results “never surprised” him.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Sibal, who is part of a 23-member protest group within the party (often referred to as the G23 leaders), spoke about the continued exodus’ of Congress leaders and the party’s inability “to connect with the electorate”.

During the meeting, the party unanimously accepted responsibility for the electoral defeat and announced that Sonia Gandhi would continue to lead the party.

“What happened in the CWC yesterday also did not surprise me. For a party after eight years, since 2014, to say that we will have a Chintan Shivir to find out the reasons for this debacle 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.  The Congress represents a thought process. The word Congress comes from togetherness,” Sibal remarked.

Asked whether he believed the Gandhi family should go away, Sibal put forward the idea of ​​a “Sab ki Congress”, which he described as “bringing together all those people in India who don’t want the BJP” and said he will fight for it till his last breath.

“Mamata Banerjee was a Congresswoman. Sharad Pawar was a Congressman. All Congressmen who have moved away must come together. There are millions of people in this country who don’t belong to any political party, but whose thought processes are aligned to the Congress thought process of inclusiveness, of togetherness, of peace, of harmony, of change for the future, and for the betterment of ordinary people…doing away with poverty, doing away with illiteracy. There are millions of people who believe in that. They are also through their thought processes Congressmen. That’s what I call ‘sab ki Congress’. Some people have expressed their views that there can be no Congress without A, B or C. Obviously, they believe that ‘sab ki Congress’ cannot survive without ‘Ghar ki Congress’. That’s the challenge. This is not against A, B or C,” he explained.

Answering the question on who should lead the party, he said, “It can be anybody who is acceptable to an elected AICC, not a nominated AICC.”

“The Congress party is not using the assets that it has for the rejuvenation of the party. If the Congress party thinks like that, how can that Congress party ever hope to reclaim its past glory? At an individual level, there are no problems with the leadership. They are very courteous, very nice. But we are talking about politics,” he clarified.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.