- Thursday, April 18, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE internal trouble in the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party, seems to be worsening with each passing day. Soon after senior leader of the party Kapil Sibal, a member of the Congress’s veterans’ group G-23 questioned the party’s functioning amid the current crisis in the northern state of Punjab, workers and supporters of the Congress protesters outside his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday (29). They damaged his car, threw tomatoes and also displayed “Get well soon” placards.
Workers of the Youth Congress also chanted slogans like “Leave the party! Come to your senses!” and “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad!” (Long live Rahul Gandhi).
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The 73-year-old Sibal, a former central minister, had earlier called the media and raised questions over the party’s functioning when it was facing a serious crisis in poll-bound Punjab. He even took a dig at the high command saying the party has no elected president and wondered who was taking the decision.
Two top Congress leaders in Punjab, including chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, quit their positions in a gap of a week and their acts exposed the internal trouble within the party.
“We are G-23, definitely not Ji Huzoor-23 (Yes boss -23). We will keep raising issues,” said Sibal, indirectly taking a dig at the Gandhis who have been in control of the party for several decades now.
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Sibal was little touched by the protest outside his house, telling Indian news channel NDTV that he doesn’t get rattled by drama and said what he said very carefully.
The Congress high command is often accused of ignoring advice from anybody outside its inner circle, even at the cost of the party. Sibal’s ‘Ji Huzoor’ gibe was allegedly aimed at that.
The Congress has lost a number of leaders in recent times who have jumped ship to join other parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress. In Rajasthan, another state ruled by the party, a serious feud has been witnessed between the camp of chief minister Ashok Gehlot and young leader Sachin Pilot.
On Thursday (30), another senior Congress leader Anand Sharma who is also the deputy leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, expressed shock over the protest outside Sibal’s house and urged (interim) party president Sonia Gandhi to take action against the culprits.
In a tweet, he said, “Shocked and disgusted to hear the news of attack and hooliganism at Kapil Sibal’s house. This deplorable action brings disrepute to the party and needs to be strongly condemned.”
Stating that the Congress has a history of upholding freedom of expression, he added, “differences of opinion and perception are integral to a democracy. Intolerance and violence is alien to Congress values and culture.”
But not all Congress leaders backed Sibal. Former central minister Ajay Maken, who is known to be close to former party president Rahul Gandhi, criticised Sibal over his stance saying he should not denigrate the party that had given him an identity.
