MARCH, 15, 2022: ‘Rahul Gandhi is already de-facto president’, says Kapil

Sibal amid demands he take over Congress reins again.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has said that Rahul Gandhi is already
taking all important party decisions it doesn’t matter whether he becomes
the de-jure president as desired by a faction of the party leaders. Sibal also
said that he wants a ‘sab ki Congress’ while some other leaders want a
‘Ghar ki Congress’.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sibal said, “It is purely my personal view
that today at least I want a ‘sab ki Congress’. Some others want a ‘Ghar ki
Congress’. I certainly don’t want a ‘Ghar ki Congress’. And I will fight for a
‘sab ki Congress’ till my last breath. This ‘sab ki Congress’ means just not
getting together, but getting together all those people in India who don’t

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want the BJP. You take in the viewpoints of everybody, you expand your
footprint in such a way that all those forces for change, who are against this
autocratic capture of all institutions in this country.”

Sibal said that Congress leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar
who drifted apart, must come together again. He said that there are millions
of people in the country who do not belong to any political party but their
thought processes are aligned to the 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,” said
Sibal.

Speaking on the issue of a faction of Congress leaders demanding that

Rahul Gandhi should take the reins of power again, Sibal said, “We are
assuming now that Rahul Gandhi is not the president of the Congress and
Mrs. Gandhi is. Rahul Gandhi went to Punjab and made the announcement
that Charanjit Singh Channi will be the Chief Minister. In what capacity did
he do that? He is not the president of the party, but he takes all the
decisions. He is already the de-facto president. So why are they asking him
that he should take back the reins of power.”

On the question of who should be blamed for the continuous slide of the
Congress, Sibal suggested that amalgamation of new faces, of the young,
of the experienced, is a must for any structure. He alleged that all powers
are concentrated in the Congress leadership and even decisions regarding
the appointments of PCCs and DCCs are taken by the leadership who
don’t have direct contact with them. “In this power structure, therefore, the

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organization is bereft of any vision. This is my personal belief. And this is
true of all political parties. Morality has become irrelevant in politics,” he
said.

Sibal said that the results of the recent assembly elections were not a
surprise for him as the party has been going downhill since 2014. “We have
lost state after state. Even where we succeeded we were not been able to
keep our flock together. In the meantime, there has been an exodus of
some key people…In the 2022 Assembly elections, too, people who were
close to the leadership left them. I was looking at the figures. 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,” he said.

The Congress leader, who is a part of the G23 grouping of dissident

leaders seeking reforms within Congress, alleged that there has been an
absence of accountability, decreasing acceptability and little attempt to
increase accessibility in the party ever since 2014.

More trouble for Gandhis as party dissenters G23 to hold meeting of their
own Wednesday:

New Delhi: Battered by five recent losses and with little steam to propel
forward, the Congress high-command is in for more trouble as in-party
dissenters, called the G23, have announced a meeting of their own on
Wednesday.

Sources told news agency ANI that other Congress leaders may join this
meeting.

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The G23 had told Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in August 2020 that the
party needed internal reforms and collective leadership.

Most prominent among the G23 leaders, Kapil Sibal, slammed the top
leadership in an interview published Tuesday and said they were living in a
cuckoo land.

He criticised the leadership’s decision at Sunday’s working committee

meeting to hold a ‘chintan shivir’ to figure out why the party had lost in five
states. He told The Indian Express: “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.”

He said it was not surprising that the Congress leadership decided Sunday
that Sonia Gandhi would continue as party chief.
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He said some prominent leaders may feel “that without the Gandhi family
it’s not possible for the Congress to survive”. He demurred: “It’s not a point
of view that many of us share.”

The meeting is likely to be held Wednesday at 7 pm. The venue is yet to be

decided, ANI reported.

Who’s responsible for the Congress party’s debacle in the recent assembly
elections? Or for its dereliction in general? After five-hour-long deliberations
of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Sunday evening,
Congresspersons knew no better than what American musician Bob Dylan
sang in the 1960s: “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind”.

Who's responsible for the Congress' plight today? Sonia Gandhi, couldn’t
have been more emphatic in conveying the message — not the Gandhis.

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Explaining the remark, Kapil Sibal went on to say: "This 'sab ki Congress'
means just not getting together, but getting together all those people in
India who don't want the BJP. You take in the viewpoints of everybody, you
expand your footprint in such a way that all those forces for change, who
are against this autocratic capture of all institutions in this country, come
together."m

He added that it was time for the Gandhis to step aside from leadership
positions and give others a chance. "The Gandhis should voluntarily move
away because a body nominated by them will never tell them that they
should not continue to hold the reins of power," he said.

In Post-Poll Purge, Sonia Gandhi Asks Five State Congress Presidents to

Resign

After the party’s poor performance in recently concluded five state

assembly elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents of Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur to tender resignations in order to
facilitate the reorganization of the state unit’s top post.
Uttarakhand Congress Chief Ganesh Godiyal and Goa Congress Chief
Girish Chodankar have already resigned from the post taking moral
responsibility for the defeat, while Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Ajay
Kumar Lallu, Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, and Manipur
Congress Chief Nameirakpam Loken Singh are expected to resign from
any time now over the poor performance of the party in the polls.

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Taking to Twitter, Surjewala said, “Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi
has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa
& Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate the reorganization
of PCCs.”
This comes after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)
chaired by Sonia Gandhi was held on Sunday to introspect the Congress’s
crushing defeat in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab
and Manipur. In the almost five-hour-long meeting, the CWC members had
urged Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead and initiate changes required to
strengthen the party.
There is simmering tension within the Congress after the poll disaster and
in-party dissenters, called the Group of 23 leaders (G-23), are clearly
miffed with the style of functioning of the grand old party leadership.
In the CWC meeting, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had
raised the demand of fixing the responsibilities.

Sonia Gandhi asks PCC chiefs of UP, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand & Punjab
to quit amid poll drubbing. Congress President Sonia Gandhi on March 15
asked the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Presidents, of five states
that went to the polls recently, to put in their resignations in order to
facilitate reorganization of state units.
"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their resignations
in order to facilitate reorganization of PCC’s, party spokesperson Randeep
Singh Surjewala tweeted.

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This comes after the Congress party put up a dismal performance in the
recently concluded assembly elections held in five states. It failed to
dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand,
and Uttar Pradesh. With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) forming the
government in Punjab, the Congress party lost its hold on one of the last
few states remaining under its rule.
Earlier, speculations were rife that the Congress may rejig its leadership, or
advance the organizational polls slated for later this year. However,
following a four-hour-long meeting of the Congress Working Committee
(CWC) on March 13 said that Sonia Gandhi will continue to serve as the
Congress' interim president. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has
sought the resignations of the five PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee)
chiefs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

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"Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their
resignations in order to facilitate reorganization of PCC's," Congress
general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala wrote on Twitter.
The move comes after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee
(CWC) was held in New Delhi to discuss the party's performance in the
recently-concluded assembly polls. The CWC had authorized Sonia Gandhi
to make comprehensive changes in the party structure at the state and
national levels.
Among those who have been asked to tender their resignation to Sonia
Gandhi is Navjot Singh Sidhu. Appointed the Punjab Pradesh Congress
Committee (PPCC) chief in July of last year, the cricketer-turned-politician
engaged in a bitter tussle with the then Punjab CM Captain Amarinder
Singh.
Sidhu then locked horns with Charanjit Singh Channi, Captain Amarinder
Singh's successor and Congress party's chief ministerial face in Punjab. As
a result of this infighting, Congress was reduced to 18 seats in the Punjab
assembly polls.
The party's performance was equally questionable in Uttar Pradesh, where
it bagged only two seats despite fielding candidates on all 403 seats under
the leadership of state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary in charge of UP.
Congress was unable to unseat the BJP in Uttarakhand and won only 19
out of 70 seats. The elections were fought under the leadership of
Uttarakhand PCC chief Ganesh Godiyal and former chief minister Harish
Rawat.

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Similarly, it failed to secure a majority in Goa, where it won only 11 out of
40 assembly seats under the leadership of state Congress chief Girish
Chodankar.
In Manipur, where it was able to secure only five seats under the leadership
of Manipur PCC chief Nameirakpam Loken Singh and former chief minister
Okram Ibobi Singh, Congress could not even emerge as the principal
Opposition party.

As per news agency ANI, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on

Monday said that the Gandhi family alone is not responsible for the recent
drubbing of the party in the five Assembly states and there was no need for
Sonia Gandhi to resign as party president.
"We reposed our faith in her, there's no question of offering resignation. We
all are responsible for defeat in these five states, not just Gandhi family or
Sonia Gandhi," he added.
With Sidhu Sacked, Many Congress Leaders Want An Old Hand to Pull
Party out of Punjab Predicament:
With Congress president Sonia Gandhi cracking the whip by seeking the
resignations of the local unit chiefs of the five states where the party lost
elections this month, including Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Punjab wing faces a
stiff challenge to find a new head and rejig itself.

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What will make the job even tougher is the clamour within the party that
traditional Congressmen should be given precedence in the selection after
the stunning loss under Sidhu. The demands from local leaders are in sync
with the statements by the so-called Group of 23 rebels, or G23, who have
sought preference over turncoats while selecting the Pradesh Congress
Commitee (PCC) chief.
The party, which has faced one of its worst-ever electoral performances,
will have to balance out caste equations while finalising not just the state
unit chief but the leader of the opposition (LoP) as well. “A balance will
have to be struck between Jat, Hindu face, or an OBC candidate while
going in for the selection on both the key posts,” said a leader.

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Though proper consultations are yet to begin, some experienced leaders
available with the party include Partap Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa,
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Tript Bajwa, Ravneet Bittu, Vijay Inder
Singla, and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
“We know that the party has hit rock bottom and needs to resurrect itself.
One of the ways it can do it is by carrying out proper legwork before
finalizing who takes over from Sidhu. An experienced traditional hand can
show the way for getting the party back on track,” a senior party leader
said.
Also, what the party will have to focus on would be restructuring the state
unit. “Despite Sidhu taking over, the basic issue was that the organizational
structure seemed to be missing. That also needs to be built up to lift the
morale of the party workers,” a leader from Malwa said.

The party has already begun consultations over the dismal performance in
the polls. On Tuesday, a meeting of the losing and winning party
candidates from Malwa region was held to discuss the results. Sources
said that the leaders had apprised the high command that infighting among
the top brass had demoralised the cadre and seniors were missing in
action from the ground in the run-up to the polls. While some squarely
blamed Charanjit Singh Channi, a few were also upset with Sidhu attacking
the government during a crucial time ahead of polling.

Despite their differences contributing to the downfall of the government,

both Sidhu and Channi continued to avoid each other publicly, making for
bad optics. Both the leaders, who participated in the one-on-one meeting
with Punjab affairs in charge Harish Choudhary, refused to talk to the
media on being asked for the reasons behind the poll debacle.

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The meeting had been called to go into the details of the embarrassing
loss. On Wednesday, discussions with Doaba and Majha candidates have
been scheduled.

"Dissident" Congress Leaders to Meet Today, Invite Others from Party

16-3-2022: Sources close to the Group of 23 leaders said they have also
invited Congressmen who don't constitute the bloc but feel changes are
required, including at the leadership level, to revive its electoral fortunes.

New Delhi: Congress's G-23 leaders will meet at Kapil Sibal's residence on
Wednesday [16/3] to discuss the situation in the party in the aftermath of
its embarrassing loss in the assembly elections in five states and the
CWC's endorsement of Sonia Gandhi's continuance as president.

Sources close to the Group of 23 leaders said they have also invited
Congressmen who don't constitute the bloc but feel changes are required,
including at the leadership level, to revive its electoral fortunes.

The group, which has been critical of the leadership, had written to Sonia
Gandhi in 2020 demanding an organisational overhaul.

The decision to convene a meeting of the G-23 came on a day when Sonia
Gandhi sought the resignation of Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa following the party's dismal
performance in the assembly elections.

Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the leadership had said the Gandhis
should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party,
provoking a backlash from Gandhi family loyalists who accused him of
speaking the language of the BJP and RSS.

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'He doesn't know ABC of Congress': Ashok Gehlot hits out at Kapil Sibal for
criticizing Gandhis:

Jaipur: Amid infighting in the Congress party, Rajasthan Chief Minister

Ashok Gehlot has slammed his party colleague and noted lawyer Kapil
Sibal for his criticism of the Gandhi family and the top leadership over the
recent assembly elections debacle in 5 states.

Gehlot said that Sibal is "not rooted in Congress culture", and he "doesn`t
even know the ABC of the Congress." Gehlot's remarks came after Sibal
triggered a row with his comments that the Gandhis should step aside and
give other leaders a chance to lead the Congress.

"He (Sibal) is a great lawyer, but he did not work hard as other workers do
in Congress culture. He got a chance gradually, and with the blessings of
Sonia Gandhi and the support of Rahul Gandhi, he got a place in the Union
Cabinet directly,'' Gehlot said.

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"Such words coming from a person whom the Congress gave so much is
unfortunate. Kapil Sibal does not know the ABC of Congress, he does not
understand the basic spirit of the party. Congress has made sacrifices for
the country before and after Independence, which Sibal forgets," he added.

Gehlot said that no person from the Gandhi family became the Prime
Minister, Chief Minister or even a Minister in the last 30 years. "The people
of the country want the Gandhi family to keep the Congress united... The
country stands with the Gandhi family," he added.

Gehlot also said that Sibal is making such statements out of frustration.
"What Kapil Sibal has thought is beyond comprehension. At a time when
the party could not win elections, the leaders should have at least shown
unity," Gehlot said.

"The Congress will be there in the next century as well. The DNA of the
country and the DNA of Congress are similar," he added. Sibal had earlier
criticised the Congress` decision to hold a brainstorming session in the
wake of the party`s poor show in the recent Assembly elections in five
states. He also advised the Gandhi family to part ways with the party
leadership.

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