Congress leaders critical of Kapil Sibal's remarks on Gandhi family

NEW DELHI: Congress leaders lashed out at senior lawyer and a key member of dissident group G-23, Kapil Sibal, for saying that the Gandhi family should step aside from leadership positions and give others a chance, with some critics accusing him of echoing the sentiment of RSS-BJP.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused Sibal of being a bad leader of the Congress party.

He said, "Kapil Sibal may be a good lawyer but he is not a good leader of the Congress party. He never went to any village to work for Congress. He is deliberately trying to weaken the party. No one can weaken Sonia Gandhi or the Congress party".

Another leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that that Sibal got many advancements due to Congress but now that the party is not in power, he is feeling particularly bad.

The Congress leader said, "He got many advancements because of the Congress party. Things were good when he was a minister in the UPA govt now when UPA is not in power he is feeling bad."

"He should set an example that he can do something without the support of Congress, fight for his ideology on their own, otherwise what is the outcome of just giving interviews while sitting in an AC room", Chowdhury said.

"The G23 don't have a habit of staying out of governing power. That is why they're trying to save themselves while criticising. I don't know what's Sibal's mass base", he added.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot termed Sibal's comment as "unfortunate". He said, "At a time when the party is losing elections, leaders should stand united." Gehlot said Congress is the only party that can take on BJP and praised Rahul for confronting PM Narendra Modi.

Sibal said that the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to lead the party. He had accused the leadership of wanting 'Ghar ki Congress' and not 'Sab ki Congress'. Sibal’s remarks came after the Congress Working Committee met on Sunday, and after almost five hours of deliberations urged Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead and initiate changes required to strengthen the party.