After Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram Expresses Concern Over Crisis in Party, Congress to Call CWC Meet Soon | Key Points | Earth Indian

New Delhi: A day after senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal expressed concern over the ongoing crisis in the grand old party, another party veteran P Chidambaram on Thursday expressed disappointment over the current political fiasco and said he felt “helpless” for failing to start conversation in party forums. “I feel helpless when we cannot start meaningful conversations within party forums,” P Chidambaram said in a tweet on Thursday.

Chidambaram disappointed: P Chidambaram spoke in support of fellow Congress leader Kapil Sibal and condemned the protest outside Sibal’s house by Congress workers following his remarks. “I also feel hurt and helpless when I see pictures of Congress workers raising slogans outside the residence of a colleague and MP. The safe harbour to which one can withdraw seems to be silence,” the former finance minister said.

Kapil Sibal demands CWC meet: The development comes after senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal, who are part of a group of 23 leaders (G-23) seeking organisational revamp, demanded that a meeting of the CWC be convened immediately to discuss internal party issues such as a spate of defections from the party and turmoil in many state units including Punjab.

Apart from this, Sibal also raised questions on the decision-making process in the party in the absence of a regular president, and demanded dialogue where all senior leaders would be heard. “In our party at the moment there is no president. So we don’t know who is taking these decisions. We know and yet we don’t know…. I believe one of my senior colleagues has written to the Congress president to immediately convene a CWC. So that at least some things that we can’t speak publicly, we can have a dialogue in the CWC as to why we are in this state,” he said.

Ghulam Nabi Azad writes to Sonia Gandhi: Moreover, Azad has written to the Congress president demanding that a meeting of the CWC be immediately convened. Azad said that the party should welcome suggestions and not suppress them.

Congress to call CWC meet soon: Responding to the increasing demand from senior party leaders, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Thursday said the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet “very soon”.  Surjewala also said the party president had indicated last week that a meeting of the CWC, the top decision-making body of the party, would be called very soon.

“Before leaving for Shimla, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had already indicated that a CWC meeting shall be called very soon. Accordingly, the CWC meeting shall be held in the coming days,” Surjewala told PTI.

Hitting back at Sibal, Surjewala had said, “Every Congressman and woman must also seriously introspect whether by their words and actions they are attempting to weaken the Congress in the times of crisis.”

Protest outside Sibal’s house: Hours after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress, Kapil Sibal on Wednesday came under attacks from several quarters with party workers also protesting outside his house. Carrying ‘Get Well Soon Kapil Sibal’ placards and raising slogans against Sibal, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers protested outside his Jor Bagh residence, saying they were “hurt” by his remarks.

The protesters raised slogans against Sibal asking him to “leave the party”. Several leaders hit out at Sibal for what they said was questioning the leadership from which he had earlier “benefitted”.

By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian