Cong fears Sibal's plainspeaking may open floodgates of criticism in party

Cong fears Sibal's plainspeaking may open floodgates of criticism in party
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, MARCH 30: Former Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal's strident attack on the way the party is being run has sent the organisation into a tizzy, with party chief Sonia Gandhi's loyalists caught completely unawares.

In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express on Tuesday, Sibal had called for a deep introspection on the party's dwindling fortunes and sought an improvement in the decision-making process. There were enough red faces in the party on Wednesday over Sibal's candid observations, especially because they came from a leader considered to be close to the present dispensation.

No official reaction to Sibal's comments was available -- in fact the daily briefing at the AICC was abruptly cancelled -- but privately several senior party leaders, including some considered close to Sonia, said that the ``issues raised by the senior lawyer-turned-politician were pertinent and relevant and needed to be looked at dispassionately.''

``Sibal should have aired his views in the party forum but to take any disciplinary action against him would only send the wrong signals since what he has said is also troubling the minds of Congressmen all over the country,'' a party general secretary said.

Sonia loyalists, however, drew solace from the fact that the Rajya Sabha MP had refrained from attacking the party chief directly. But perhaps more ominously for the Congress, his frank assessment of the party's state could set off a chain reaction, prompting many other like-minded leaders to break their silence in the coming days.

As it is, there is enough ``closet dissidence'' within the party, and if Sibal, while remaining in the party, has dared to do some plain-speaking, others who are already in the so-called dissidents camp may have got another boost to their activities. All this could spell further trouble for Sonia's leadership.

Defence for Sonia's leadership came from the expected quarters, with old Sonia loyalist and CWC member Arjun Singh ``ruling out any conflict within the party over the leadership of Sonia Gandhi.'' In a statement in Bhopal, Singh, who was brought into the Rajya Sabha recently, said those party leaders who make such comments should remember that the primary objective of the partymen should be to consolidate the Congress and bring it closer to the people.

Sonia's most staunch defender of late, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh was also on the job. In a separate statement, Singh urged every party worker to do ``a soul-searching exercise, assess his own performance and commitment to the party rather blaming the leadership.''

Meanwhile, senior party leader and CWC member Pranab Mukherjee is said to be ``extremely upset'' over the controversy generated by the party's stand on CTBT as enunciated by him after Sonia's meeting with President Bill Clinton. He is believed to be particularly peeved by the manner in which a diehard Rajiv-Sonia loyalist and a self-styled expert on foreign affairs sought to belittle him on the CTBT issue.

Pranab is the party's media department chairman and has reportedly not taken kindly to the manner in which what he stated was later denied, first by senior leader Natwar Singh and later by party spokesperson Ajit Jogi. Briefing mediapersons on the Clinton meeting, Pranab had stated that the Congress president had told the US President that her party was also committed to a minimum credible nuclear deterrent. This was subsequently denied by the party.