Congress always tries to get everyone on board; I.N.D.I.A. bloc must sit to work out strategy: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: Asserting that the Congress always tries to get everyone on board with a consensus, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday stressed the need for the I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties to sit together to decide on how they will contest elections going forward, and remove "confusion".

Addressing a press conference here, Sibal said questions should also have been asked on AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal when he fielded candidates in Haryana, Goa, Gujarat and other places against the Congress.

"This question should have been asked. The Congress always tries to get everyone on board with a consensus for moving forward. Sometimes problem happens. When Bihar elections took place and the Congress did not perform as per expectations, the RJD said it could not come to power because of Congress," Sibal said.

"Everyone will have to decide how they will approach the elections. The BJP's advantage is that they have a single command, and they get benefit of that. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress fought the elections with the Samajwadi Party, and it helped. The same happened in Tamil Nadu. So, they need to discuss among themselves on how they should move forward," the former Congress leader said.

Noting that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had stated that I.N.D.I.A. bloc is a national alliance, Sibal said there is a confusion over the issue which needs to be sorted out.

Later, speaking with PTI Videos, Sibal said the alliance has to decide whether its partners fight (elections) separately or together.

"Sharad Pawar has said that the alliance is applicable only at the national level, i.e., when general elections take place, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc fights together after an understanding on seats," Sibal said.

On senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar's remarks that the party needs to clarify on whether it wants to do coalition politics or go solo, Sibal said, "What Tariq Anwar has said, he should have said earlier if it was the right thing. When Kejriwal fielded candidates in Goa, Gujarat and Haryana, Tariq bhai did not say such a thing." "So, they themselves have to decide whether the alliance is applicable when elections take place in states... And this has to be decided by sitting together," he said.

Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May 2022 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the support of the Samajwadi Party.

Amid claims that the AAP-Congress bickering benefited the BJP in Delhi, unity and cohesiveness have been the watchwords from many I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders.

The Congress, however, said the blame on it was misplaced since the AAP had ruled out an alliance for the assembly polls.