Kapil Sibal breaks silence on attack at his home by Congress workers; targets Modi govt

Breaking his silence on the attack on his residence, Congress MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday, dismissed it saying 'What is there to talk about?'. Addressing reporters at Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Ashram, Sibal compared the protests staged by Congress workers against him to the attack on journalists' by the Modi government. Sibal's house was vandalised by Delhi Congress workers after he demanded elections to CWC.

Sibal: 'Journalists are attacked everyday'

"What should I say about this? Several journalists are attacked day in and day out under Modi government," said Sibal at Ahmedabad. He was attending the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram.

When asked about Congress' political crisis, he deflected saying, "They (opposition) talk about gandhi, but they are an 'aandhi' (storm) of lies. They (opposition) don't know what are the principles of Gandhi". When asked about seeking elections in Congress, Sibal said, "Today I will speak only on Gandhiji. If I want to speak on Congress, I will talk in Delhi".

Kapil Sibal targets Congress leadership

Amid the Punjab crisis on Wednesday, Kapil Sibal urged the Congress leadership to hold elections to the post of the Congress president, the CWC and the central election committee. "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," Sibal said adding, "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 are G-23, not Ji-Huzoor 23".

Hours after Sibal raised questions over the functioning of the Congress, several Delhi Congress workers staged a protest 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 including Randeep Surjewala hit out at Sibal for what they said was questioning the leadership from which he had earlier "benefitted".

Backing Sibal, his peers - Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma have condemned the attack at his house and even questioned the Congress' silence on it. Echoing Sibal, other Congress leaders like PJ Kurien, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Sandeep Dikshit expressed concerns at the deteriorating leadership in Congress and the Punjab political chaos. Seeking election for a full-time president, the G-23 leaders urged Congress to hold open elections to CWC. Congress has agreed to hold an emergency CWC meeting soon to let them air out their grievances.