Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K.S. Alagiri on Thursday condemned former Union Minister Kapil Sibal’s remarks that there was no president for the Congress party at the moment and that one did not know who was taking decisions. Mr. Sibal’s comments came after Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from his post.
Mr. Alagiri said Mr. Sibal’s statement that there was no president for the party was not right, and that Sonia Gandhi was the president of the party. “For crores of Congress workers across India, the only leaders acceptable are Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. They are the binding force of the Congress. Only they have the ability to bring together people. Others do not have that capacity. No matter how much others try, cadres will not accept them,” he said.
The TNCC president said just because Mrs. Gandhi was currently an acting president did not mean there was no president for the party. “Acting president is only a technical word. Even party rules say there can be an interim president. That does not mean Mrs. Gandhi is only a temporary president,” he said.
He said some of the Congress leaders were playing to the wishes of the BJP and were following the BJP’s footsteps on the issue. “In fact, these leaders should focus on protecting the Congress. Did they raise these issues when they were in power? Now that they are not in power, these issues are cropping up,” he said.
