Poor Show in Bihar Polls: Khurshid Slams Sibal, Sonia Calls Panel Meet For ‘Introspection’

New Delhi: Days after the dismal show by the Congress in Bihar Assembly Election 2020, voices of discontent within the party resurfaced again with a section of leaders calling for action and introspection.

Senior Congress leader Salman Khursid on Tuesday slammed Kapil Sibal for going public on the Bihar election results and wrote in a Facebook post that while periodic re-appraisal and re-writing of strategy and logistics are required, they cannot be conducted on media so that adversaries can check mate it promptly.

In an interview to The Indian Express, Sibal had said that he had been forced to go public with his views as  there has been no dialogue and there seems to be no effort for a dialogue by the leadership.

“The time for introspection is over. We know the answers. The Congress must be brave and willing to recognise them,” Sibal had told The Indian Express.

Calls for reform and accountability for the Bihar polls debacle, however, invited quick rebuttals from the party which fielded veteran leader Ashok Gehlot to say that the Congress has always sprung back from crisis.

Kapil Sibal’s open call for reform in the Congress comes days after of 23 party leaders wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi for leadership change and organisational overhaul. Sibal himself was part of the group of 23 leaders.

Rajasthan Chief Minister on Monday Ashok Gehlot came out in strong defence of the Congress and Sonia Gandhi, saying the Congress is still the only party that can keep the nation united.

However, taking Sibal’s call for introspection into consideration, party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday called a meeting of her advisory committee. Notably, the special panel consisting of KC Venugopal, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Randeep Surjewala and AK Antony was set up by her to look into the concerns raised by the group of 23 in their letter to the Congress interim president in August. She has called the special panel to discuss the issue.

In the recently concluded Bihar Assembly Elections 2020, the Congress won 19 out of the 70 seats it contested as part of the RJD-led grand alliance. The opposition alliance ended up with 110 seats, while the NDA retained power bagging 125 seats in the 243-member assembly.