G-23 leaders slam Congress protest outside Kapil Sibal's house

Amarinder says Sidhu undermining Punjab CM's authority; meets NSA Doval

Several Congress leaders of the ‘Group of 23’, which had last year written to party chief Sonia Gandhi demanding an organisational overhaul, on Thursday strongly condemned the attack on their colleague Kapil Sibal’s house and termed it as “orchestrated hooliganism”.

Congress workers protested outside Sibal's house and reportedly damaged a car, after he raised questions over the party's functioning and attacked its leadership.

Senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vivek Tankha and Raj Babbar were among those who rallied behind Sibal, with Sharma asking Gandhi to take strong action against those involved.

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh also criticised what he said was an “attack” at the house of Sibal by Congress workers only because he “chose to express views that were not palatable to the party leadership”.

This does not augur well for the party, Singh said, adding that it was unfortunate that the seniors are being “completely sidelined”, which is not good for the party.

Terming the senior Congressmen as “thinkers”, who were important to the future of the party, the former chief minister in a statement said the younger leadership should be promoted to implement the plans, which the senior leaders are best equipped to formulate.

Azad, former leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, also strongly condemned the “orchestrated hooliganism” at Sibal's residence. “He (Sibal) is a loyal Congressman fighting for the party both inside and outside Parliament. Any suggestion from any quarter should be welcomed instead of suppressing, hooliganism is unacceptable,” tweeted Azad, who along with Sibal is part of the ‘Group of 23’ which last year had written to Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul of the party.

Chidambaram tweeted that he feels helpless when “we cannot start meaningful conversations within party forums”. “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,” he said.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “Orchestrated hooliganism outside Kapil Sibal's residence last night is not the culture of the Congress. If one has any difference of views, the same should be brought up and discussed at party forum,” he said on Twitter.

Amarinder in Delhi 

Amarinder Singh kept up his attack on Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday and said he thinks that the cricketer-turned-politician is undermining Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's authority. He also said the kind of situation that Sidhu has created was never seen before in Punjab.

Asked if Sidhu is undermining Channi’s authority, the veteran Congress leader, who returned to Chandigarh on Thursday evening after a visit to Delhi, said, “I think so. Sidhu’s job is to run party affairs and Channi’s job is to run the government. There is never any interference. I have been the PCC chief thrice. The two (the Pradesh Congress Committee chief and the chief minister) consult each other, but the final decision is of Channi, who is the chief minister, not Sidhu,” Singh told reporters at the Chandigarh airport.

Earlier in the day, Amarinder Singh met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a day after he called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The meeting lasted for around 30 minutes.

After the meeting, Doval went to the residence of Shah, where he met the home minister, along with several other top officials. The meeting at Shah's residence lasted for nearly two hours.

Singh's meeting with Shah on Wednesday had added another dimension in the politics of Punjab where no party is being seen as a clear favourite in the polls expected to be held early next year.

The politically significant meeting, which came days after Singh resigned as the chief minister after accusing the Congress of humiliating him, raised speculation over his future plans ahead of the Punjab polls, with some political analysts viewing it as an indication that the veteran leader may be seeking the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sources close to Singh had said he is also learnt to have discussed Punjab's internal security situation with Shah.

With the farmers' protests against three agriculture laws of the Centre seen to be affecting the BJP's poll prospects in western Uttar Pradesh, the Centre may intensify the efforts to end the stir.

Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are among the five states going to the polls next year.