Congress leaders attack G-23, launch defence of top leadership

This comes a day after questions were raised on the functioning of the party

With barbs being traded thick and fast within the Congress, some senior leaders of the party came out in strong defence of the top leadership on Thursday and attacked Kapil Sibal and other G-23 leaders. A day after questions were raised on the functioning of the party, these senior leaders continued the attack on Sibal and other G-23 leaders and strongly defended the Gandhi family's leadership.

In an apparent dig at Sibal and the G-23, Congress general secretary Tariq Anwar said it is amazing to see how some people's character can change so much in their "selfishness". "Those who took advantage of being in power the most by the grace of the leadership, are today bent on challenging the leadership. It seems that they have a habit of being in power, how can they cope with struggle?" Anwar said in a tweet in Hindi.

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Speaking with reporters in Raipur, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel termed Sibal's remarks raising questions over the party's functioning as "unfortunate". "Kapil Sibal ji is our senior leader, a former Union minister, a senior lawyer and such a statement by him is unfortunate. After Rahul ji resigned as AICC president (in July 2019), everyone (in the party) had accepted Sonia Gandhi ji as the interim president and she is still in the post," he said.

"Due to the coronavirus pandemic, election (to the post of Congress president) was cancelled. After all this, it is ridiculous to raise such questions," Baghel said. Posting a Urdu couplet of Mirza Ghalib, senior Congress leader and former law minister Ashwani Kumar took a dig at Sibal and tweeted, "Humein unse thi wafa ki umeed, jo jante nahi wafa kya hai (We hoped for loyalty from those who do not know what loyalty is)."

At a press conference in Ahmedabad, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the party leaders must not go public with the internal matters as it hurts the ground level workers. Asserting that the Congress gives enough freedom to its leaders to express their views, he said internal matters should not be discussed publicly for the sake of "discipline" and that they should be raised on a proper platform only.

"Crores of Congress workers are in pain due to such acts. Senior party leaders should discuss such matters on a proper platform, not in public. There is a difference between BJP and Congress. While there is no ban on free speech in our party, our leaders need to put their opinion on a proper platform," said Khera during his interaction with mediapersons.

"Suppose you have a family dispute, would you prefer to solve it internally or go to your neighbour's terrace and speak about it? There should be discipline, which is necessary to run a family, an organisation and a country," he added.

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The remarks came on a day several Congress leaders of the 'Group of 23', which had last year written to party chief Sonia Gandhi demanding an organisational overhaul, strongly condemned the attack on their colleague Sibal's house and termed it as "orchestrated hooliganism".

Senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Shashi Tharoor, Vivek Tankha and Raj Babbar were among those who rallied behind Sibal, with Sharma asking Gandhi to take strong action against those involved. Chidambaram tweeted that he feels helpless when "we cannot start meaningful conversations within party forums". "I also feel hurt and helpless when I see pictures of Congress workers raising slogans outside the residence of a colleague and MP. The safe harbour to which one can withdraw seems to be silence," he said.

In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal has demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president. Sibal said at a press conference that the G-23 grouping is "not a Jee Huzur 23" and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands. Carrying 'Get Well Soon Kapil Sibal' placards and raising slogans against Sibal, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers had protested outside his Jor Bagh residence, saying they were "hurt" by his remarks. The protesters raised slogans against Sibal, asking him to "leave the party". A protestor also stood on his car.

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