Even as Islamists and ‘secular’ politicians including Congress leaders continue to support the Taliban after the group captured Afghanistan, now the Congress party is worried that the incidents in Afghanistan may benefit BJP politically. Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday alleged that the Narendra Modi government can use the Afghanistan conflict for the electoral advantages of the BJP in the upcoming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
The election in Uttar Pradesh is scheduled for the next year and the overwhelming public opinion favours a second term to Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Sibal posted on his Twitter handle, “We are hardly a player in an “inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue”. Our policy towards the Taliban regime will be guided by how this regime can use it to it’s advantage in the UP Assembly election. That is the bitter truth! The media is already playing its part!”
Afghanistan
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) September 10, 2021
We are hardly a player in an “ inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue ”.
Our policy towards the Taliban regime will be guided by how this regime can use it to it’s advantage in the UP Assembly election.
That is the bitter truth !
The media is already playing its part !
However, the statement of Sibal sounds contradictory as at the same time he has said that India has hardly any role to play in an ‘inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue.’ There is no further Tweet by him to explain or to understand how the Modi government can tweak an international issue for domestic consumption at a time Sibal himself has said that India is hardly a player in inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue.
Sibal has neither explained nor given any clue how India’s policy towards the Taliban regime will be guided vis a vis assembly election. Probably, Kapil Sibal is hinting towards the Taliban link with Uttar Pradesh. The ideology that had resulted in the birth of the Taliban had originated in Deoband in UP. Therefore, it is possible that the Congress leader is hinting that BJP will raise this issue to polarise the polls.
Call it senile or malicious, this statement has come a day after TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to United Nations, on Thursday affirmed India’s stand that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any nation and its sovereignty besides to give shelter and training to terrorists and terror organization. Over the decades, India has undertaken around 500 development projects across 34 provinces of Afghanistan. A peaceful, progressive and democratic Afghanistan is the need of the hour that forms the bedrock of India’s policy to Afghan. In this case, Sibal who leaves no chance to hit the BJP with ‘unverified’ allegations may have been inspired by some highly speculative media reports.
Sibal has a known history of making unverified allegations to kick-off a controversy.
For instance, as a counsel in the Ayodhya title case, he had requested the court to adjourn the hearing of the case till 2019 stating that the verdict could influence the 2019 parliamentary elections. In 2019, when India had hit the terror factory at Balakot in Pakistan, Sibal had joined the ranks to raise doubts of the airstrike.
