Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal hosted a dinner on Monday, a day after his birthday, leaving the party leaders in a tizzy. Sibal’s address – 8, Teen Murti Lane – in Delhi also holds immense political significance. 8, Teen Murti Lane was once the home of CPIM patriarch Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who joined the opposition parties together in 2004. Cut to 2021, the same address is now being used to crush opposition unity in the BJP juggernaut. 2024 elections.
Sibal, one of the most aggressive faces of the G-23 group, hosted dinner for prominent opposition leaders including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, NC leader Omar Abdullah, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien among others. Some other members of G-23 like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari were also present. The G-23 was the group of leaders who wrote a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi last August, calling for a complete change.
The message through the dinner was clear and clear – the G-23’s long silence is not to be taken lightly. The group, in its letter last year, complained that the party had lost contact with the people and was now a sinking ship, pushed to the fringes of politics.
Following the discontent of the party leaders, Sonia Gandhi had called a meeting and promised to make things better. But according to some G-23 leaders, nothing concrete had been done. After the Congress’s dismal performance in elections in several states like Kerala and West Bengal, the G-23 leaders were proved right.
Clear Messages Through Dinner
The message the G-23 wanted to convey at Sibal’s dinner was twofold. At first, Sibal and others in the group had the clout to attract opposition leaders. This is also when Rahul Gandhi is trying to ensure opposition unity.
Sources say the second message was that over the dinner, one signal was quite clear: that the Congress had to take the lead and remain at the center of opposition unity. But this can happen only if the party is strong.
Sources say opposition leaders like Omar Abdullah, Lalu Yadav and Derek O’Brien agreed to this and also appreciated that Congress leaders understood the need to pull up their socks. According to sources, he also said that the litmus test of the Congress will be the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, and the party should ensure that Akhilesh Yadav of SP wins this battle.
TMC’s Derek O’Brien and others also pointed to the fact that Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had shown that defeating the BJP is possible, and this should be the agenda for 2024.
There was no need to do this, says Congress leader
No one in Congress was ready to comment on the dinner, but party sources told CNN-News18 they were watching developments.
A senior Congress leader said, “Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are working to create opposition unity. There was no need to do that.”
As the opposition stands at the crossroads after so many years, Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s absence was strongly felt as the late communist, without any personal political ambitions, was someone who used the strings to bring the warring opposition parties together. could pull.
Some leaders feel that Mamata Banerjee cannot take the responsibility of bringing the opposition together as her party wants her to be the PM candidate. But the address – 8, Teen Murti Lane – and the host Sibal have certainly given food for thought.
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