Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress’ top leadership blaming it for the crisis faced by the party in Punjab, saying that the party continues to run without a president and no one knows who is taking the decisions. “In our party, there is no president so we don’t know who is taking these decisions. We know and yet we don’t know,” said Sibal while addressing the media amid the ongoing crisis in Punjab.
While Sibal did not take any names, the remarks seem to be in reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and interim president Sonia Gandhi who has been holding hectic parleys with the state leadership of Punjab, including chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
“I believe that one of my senior colleagues has perhaps written or is about to write to Congress president to immediately convene a CWC so that a dialogue can take place as to why we are in this state,” he added.
#WATCH | We are not “Jee Huzoor 23”. It is very clear. We will keep talking. We will continue to reiterate our demands: Congress leader Kapil Sibal, one of the 23 party leaders who wrote a letter to Congress president last year, demanding a slew of organizational reforms pic.twitter.com/JIy4HYqHeT
— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2021
Sibal also expressed grave concern over the leadership vacuum in the party, which was leading to a mass exodus of party leaders across the states, including Captain Amarinder Singh. “Why are people leaving? Maybe we should see whether it is our fault? The irony of the Congress is that those who are close to them (leadership) have left and those who they think are not close to them are still there,” Sibal said.
The comments from Sibal come amid the Congress facing a long-prevailing crisis in Punjab, even after the change of guard by the party, following the unceremonious exit of Captain Amarinder Singh. The political turmoil took a dramatic turn on Tuesday after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as the Punjab Congress chief, saying that he will never compromise on his ethics and moral ground.
Sidhu, in a video message posted on Twitter on Wednesday, raised questions over the appointments of the director general of police, advocate general and “tainted” leaders. He said he was ready to make “any sacrifice” but would always stand by his principles.
There was a speculation in political circles that Sidhu was not pleased over certain key appointments. Sidhu was appointed the party’s state unit president on July 18 amid a bitter power tussle with Amarinder Singh, who stepped down as the chief minister 10 days back while accusing the party high command of humiliating him.
