Not one concern raised in our letter addressed in CWC meeting: Kapil Sibal

Days after the Congress Working Committee meeting where the reins of India's 'Grand Old Party' were again handed over to Sonia Gandhi, Kapil Sibal, one of the signatories to a letter calling for core changes, said that none of the concerns they had raised were addressed. In an interview with The Indian Express, the senior leader said: "The Congress party needs a de jure and a de facto president and the concerns outlined in the letter should be addressed “as soon as possible".

"Not one request of ours, the concern of ours reflected in the letter has been sought to be addressed in that [CWC] meeting – not one. Yet we are called dissenters," Sibal said responding to questions over growing distance between the senior leaders and the Gandhi family. 

The Congress has been facing a leadership crisis with the baton being passed within the Gandhi family at regular occasions. Speaking on the need of stable party chief, Sibal said, "Can anybody oppose the fact that we should have a whole-time, 24×7 president of the party? Either they should say they don’t want it – then there will be dissent – but they also agree with it. We haven’t had a whole-time president since July 3, 2019. Does the Congress party believe there should not be a whole-time president, that we should not have elections?" 

"All the concerns that we have placed before the party…if they do not agree then only, we are dissenters. The fact is we are at a historic low. Do they disagree with that?…. This whole question of dissenters is completely unacceptable," he told The Indian Express. 

Sonia Gandhi to remain interim president for six months or longer until an All India Congress Committee (AICC) session is held to ‘select or elect’ a successor. Rahul remained non-committal on returning as party chief (Photo: PTI)

The signatories of the letter have been at loggerheads and termed dissenters within the party by Gandhi family loyalists. Responding to allegations of bidding for the BJP, Sibal said, "What is it that we want from the BJP? We say that you are not following our Constitution. You have destroyed the foundations of democracy, inclusiveness of India. Our main rival is BJP. We are the ones attacking Modi on destroying the very fundamentals of democracy by not adhering to the Constitution…. We want adherence to our (party’s) constitution. Who can object to that? We say that our constitution should prevail just as the Indian Constitution should prevail and [PM Narendra] Modi should function in the context of that. What is wrong with that?…Our concerns are on principles. None of us want a post." 

Three senior leaders of the Congress, including five former Chief Ministers, many Congress Working Committee members, sitting MPs, and several former Union Ministers had written to Sonia Gandhi calling for sweeping changes within the party structure. The letter called for a stable party chief and suggested bold reforms to take on an ever-growing BJP.