‘Good lawyer, but not a good leader’: Kapil Sibal faces Congress ire over criticism after poll debacle in 5 states
Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday slammed party colleague Kapil Sibal — a G-23 member — over the latter’s criticism of the Congress leadership following the poll debacle in five states, accusing him of trying to weaken the Grand Old Party.
Hitting out at Sibal, Kharge said: “Kapil Sibal may be a good lawyer but he is not a good leader of the Congress party. He never went to any village to work for Congress. He is deliberately trying to weaken the party. No one can weaken Sonia Gandhi or the Congress party.”
Meanwhile, Chowdhury said that the senior advocate was feeling bad since he was no more a minister as the UPA is not in power at the Centre. “Kapil Sibal kahan k neta hain mujhe pata nahi (I don’t know what kind of a leader Kapil Sibal is). He got many advancements because of the Congress party. Things were good when he was a minister in the UPA govt now when UPA is not in power he is feeling bad,” he said.
The sharp remarks came a day after Sibal, in an exclusive interview with the The Indian Express, said that Rahul Gandhi was already taking all the important decisions in the party, despite not being the de-jure president as desired by a faction of the party leaders. Claiming that leadership was in “cuckoo land”, Sibal also said that he wants a ‘sab ki Congress’ while some other leaders want a ‘Ghar ki Congress’.
G-23 leaders are scheduled to meet at Kapil Sibal’s residence today to discuss the situation obtaining 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.