Realisation finally seems to be dawning upon Congress leaders that the grand old party is losing its relevance. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal in an interview to Indian Express today admitted that people no longer consider Congress as an effective alternative. On being questioned about party’s performance in recently concluded Bihar elections where it performed so badly that it perhaps stopped the Mahagathbandhan from forming a government in state, Sibal said, “The people of the country, not just in Bihar but wherever by-elections were held, obviously don’t consider the Congress to be an effective alternative. This is one conclusion.”
He added how the alternative to BJP in Bihar was the RJD, which emerged as single largest party and it was completely wiped out in Gujarat by-elections. “In some of the constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress candidates in the by-elections notched up less than 2% of the votes cast. Three of our candidates in Gujarat lost their deposits,” he said. “I hope the Congress introspects,” he quoted an unnamed colleague from the Congress Working Committee.
Lashing out on the party, Sibal said that Congress has had six years to introspect and also has the answers. “The Congress party itself knows all the answers. But they are not willing to recognise those answers,” he told to the Indian Express.
Sibal, along with other Congress leaders had written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi with number of suggestions to keep the party afloat. They also questioned vacation by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in middle of elections. However, he has not heard back from the party leadership.
While Sibal does bemoan the lack of communication and democratic process within Congress to choose leadership, he still shies away from naming the Gandhi family for being an ineffective leadership. “Some of us put our pen to paper and said what should be done in the Congress on the road ahead. Instead of listening to us they turned their back on us. The results are for all to see,” he said.