'Gandhis should step aside': Kapil Sibal wants a 'Sab ki Congress', draws flak from party members

"I want a 'Sab ki Congress'. Some want a 'Ghar ki Congress'," Sibal said.

File Photo (PTI)

New Delhi: Kapil Sibal on Tuesday (March 15, 2022) said that he wants a 'Sab ki Congress' and expressed that the 'Gandhis should step aside'. The senior Congress leader drew flak from his party members who accused him of speaking the language of the BJP and the RSS.

"Leadership is in cuckoo land.... I want a 'Sab ki Congress'. Some want a 'Ghar ki Congress'," Sibal had told the Indian Express, adding that the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to lead the party.

The remarks had come after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met on Sunday and after almost five hours of deliberations, urged Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead the party and initiate changes to strengthen it. The CWC had also rejected Gandhi's proposal to make any and every sacrifice for the party, which was construed by some as an offer from the Gandhi family to step aside, and reposed faith in her leadership.

Manickam Tagore, a staunch Rahul Gandhi loyalist, said that the RSS and the BJP want the Gandhis to be out of leadership positions in Congress to kill the party and destroy the idea of India.

"Why RSS and BJP wants Nehru-Gandhi's out of the leadership? Because without Gandhi's leadership Congress will be become Janata party. It's easy to kill Congress then it's easy to destroy the idea of India (sic)," Tagore said on Twitter.

"Kapil Sibal knows it but why he is speaking the language of RSS/BJP?" the Congress whip in the Lok Sabha asked.

National spokesperson of Congress Pawan Khera said Sibal should contest the election for the post of Congress president, instead of making public comments against the party leadership.

"Those who want to lead Congress are free to fight upcoming election for the position of party president instead of chanting everyday against current leadership," he said.

.@drharshvardhan did not ask you to step aside from Chandni Chowk. He fought an election and defeated you @KapilSibal. Those who want to lead @INCIndia are free to fight upcoming election for the position of party president instead of chanting everyday against current leadership — Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) March 15, 2022

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot too termed Sibal's comment "unfortunate".

"At a time when the party is losing elections, the leaders should stand united," he told reporters in Jaipur.

"Those who are talking about finishing the Congress party will themselves get finished. The Congress is a years-old party and our leaders have made supreme sacrifices before and after the independence," he said.

हर जाति,हर वर्ग,हर धर्म,हर भाषा बोलने वाले,हर क्षेत्र के लोग दक्षिण के हों,पूर्व के,पश्चिम के या उत्तर के हों,सब चाहते हैं कि अगर कांग्रेस को एकजुट रखना है तो गांधी परिवार के नेतृत्व में ही एकजुट रह सकती है। ये अगर क्रेडिबिलिटी उनकी बनी हुई है तो आज हर कांग्रेसजन उनके साथ में है। pic.twitter.com/HNGHjtx10w — Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 15, 2022

Gehlot asserted that Congress is the only party that can fight against the ruling BJP and praised Rahul Gandhi for taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.