Congress should be led by Gandhi family or some non-Gandhi, opposition leaders do not care about it. They are only concerned that there should be a change and improvement in the policy and working style of the country’s largest opposition party, Congress. This is the bottom line of the dinner meeting of opposition parties convened at the residence of former Union Minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday. At the same time, there is another message of this meeting that Kapil Sibal can be such a link in making the Congress acceptable among all the opposition parties, through which opposition unity can come out a universal formula and way for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to a leader who attended the meeting, when Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral advised the Congress to break free from the leadership of the Gandhi family, none of the leaders supported it. Rather some leaders said that it is an internal matter of Congress who should lead it. But the general opinion of all the leaders present in the meeting was that the Congress should resolve the question of its leadership as soon as possible, so that the entire opposition can unite and fight the Narendra Modi government both in Parliament and on the road. G-23 leaders Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and P. Chidambaram, who was present in the meeting, also agreed with this and said that the process of party organization election will start soon.
If the leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal is to be believed, then the meeting of opposition leaders held at his house is not an attempt to form a separate faction in the Congress, but an attempt to maintain constant dialogue and bridge the distance between the opposition parties and the Congress. In response to the question asked about the meeting, Sibal told Press24 News that he is in politics and cannot sit at home by being passive. It is necessary to keep doing something in politics. He said that if the Modi government is to be defeated in 2024, then its strategy will have to be prepared from now on. For this it is necessary that there should be continuous dialogue with the parties and their leaders fighting for the same ideas and issues. Such dialogue will lead to mutual agreement and understanding. On the ideological level also we will come closer to each other and on the personal level also we will have a relationship. Only then will an effective strategy be made for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He said that the public repeatedly questions about opposition unity and alternative to Modi. The answers to both these questions will emerge only from such constant meetings and dialogues.
Sibal said that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only a quick alliance or a combination of seats is not going to work against the BJP government. For this, it is necessary to sit down and talk about the distances between all the parties, which are the points of conflict and issues. Only then will such a way be found which is acceptable to all and political interests of all are also protected. When this kind of understanding is made, then only a common program can be made on the basis of which the Modi government and BJP can be defeated unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He said that I have made a beginning which needs to be taken forward and such goodwill meetings should be organized further by other leaders over dinner, lunch or tea. Kapil Sibal said that he is trying not to weaken the party but to strengthen it and make it acceptable among other parties.
Another opposition leader, who attended the meeting, said that most of the leaders were of the opinion that the Congress has to improve its customs policy and increase continuous dialogue and cooperation with the opposition. Now is not the time when the Congress used to speak in the whole country. Now in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Congress’s support base has become very limited and in many places it has been wiped out. Whereas in states like Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, the Congress is not as strong as before. In many states, regional parties are stronger than him. Therefore, keeping in mind the ground reality, the Congress has to give space to all those forces against the BJP, which are giving strong challenges to the BJP in their respective spheres of influence. According to this leader, Rajya Sabha MP, this was discussed in the meeting.
Responding to a question whether Congress President Sonia Gandhi or former President Rahul Gandhi was taken into confidence over the meeting held at Kapil Sibal’s house, Sibal said that it was not a Congress party event and he took the status of a Congress leader. Not from but on the basis of their personal relationships, everyone was invited to a private feast. But it is wrong to see an attempt to form a separate camp in the party. It is worth noting that apart from being a former Union Minister and senior Congress leader, Kapil Sibal is also a well-known lawyer of the country and most of the leaders of Congress and Opposition have taken help from him at one time or the other in legal battle. That’s why he also has a very close personal relationship with all the leaders. Therefore, if the Congress wants, it can also use them to coordinate with the opposition parties and bridge the distance. For example, the arrival of leaders of those parties like Biju Janata Dal, Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party in Kapil’s party, whose distance from the Congress is still intact, matters. MP Sanjay Singh, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party born out of the Anna movement, also came to this party and the important thing is that during the Anna movement, as a senior UPA minister, Kapil Sibal had a very important role in ending that movement. All the talks of the first phase of the Anna movement were held at Kapil Sibal’s house. In this sense, his communication with Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh has been there since then.
In most of the cases of RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sibal advocated as a lawyer and with the help of RJD he once stayed in the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. Similarly, Kapil Sibal has very close personal relations with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, NCP President Sharad Pawar, BJD leader Pinaki Mishra, Akali leader Naresh Gujral etc. Almost all prominent leaders, including Trinamool Congress President, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are friends with Sibal. According to another leader who attended the meeting, Kapil Sibal can play an important role in making the Congress acceptable among the opposition parties, provided the Congress leadership understands it in time and uses them in the interest of the party.
