News Analysis India

Tag: Group of 23

  • Congress leader​ Anand Sharma slams ‘hooliganism’ outside former minister Kapil Sibal’s house

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Thursday expressed disgust over party workers’ protest outside Kapil Sibal’s house after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress and asked AICC chief Sonia Gandhi to take strong action against those involved.

    Asserting that differences of opinion and perception are integral to a democracy, Sharma, who along with Sibal is part of the ‘Group of 23’ which last year had written to Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul of the party, said intolerance and violence is alien to the Congress values and culture.

    Those responsible must be identified and disciplined.Urging Congress president Smt Sonia Gandhi to take cognisance and strong action .
    — Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) September 30, 2021
    “Shocked and disgusted to hear the news of attack and hooliganism at Kapil Sibal’s house. This deplorable action brings disrepute to the party and needs to be strongly condemned,” Sharma said in a series of tweets.

    He asserted that the Congress has a history of upholding freedom of expression. Sharma said that those responsible must be identified and disciplined. “Urging Congress president Smt Sonia Gandhi to take cognisance and strong action,” he said in a tweet.

    Hours after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress, Sibal on Wednesday came under attack from several quarters with party workers also protesting outside his house here.

    In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal has demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

    Sibal said at a press conference that the G-23 grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

    Carrying ‘Get Well Soon Kapil Sibal’ placards and raising slogans against Sibal, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers had 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”.

  • ‘Group of 23’ not ‘Jee Huzur 23’: Kapil Sibal seeks immediate meeting of Congress Working Committee

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

    Addressing the media, he said that a senior member of the ‘Group of 23’ has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for convening the CWC meeting immediately to discuss the party affairs and the exodus. Sibal said the grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

    He said the Congress needs to be strengthened as a strong opposition to take on the government and once again reiterated the demands of the group for holding elections to the Congress president, the CWC and the central election committee.

    He expressed anguish over the developments in the party in Punjab and the recent exodus of party leaders, saying all such issues need to be discussed at a party platform.