Moily says Jitin Prasada incompetent & Congress needs surgery; Sibal 'will never join BJP'

A day after Jitin Prasada switched to the BJP, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Thursday said the party needs to undergo a "major surgery" and not depend just on 'legacy'. He asserted that the top leadership should give primacy to ideological commitment while giving responsibility to leaders.

Alleging that Prasada had placed "personal ambition" over everything else, Moily said the UP leader's ideological commitment was suspicious from the beginning and the party winning zero seats in West Bengal under his charge showed his incompetence.

“The Congress has to rethink and re-strategise some of these things and then only the party can come up, the former Union minister said. Properly reorganise the party with proper people in positions and not put incompetent people (in positions of responsibility) who cannot deliver. This is a lesson, the Congress needs to make an introspection in the face of the developments," Moily said, making suggestions for the party's high command.

The Congress leader added that the party leadership should not just hinge upon the legacy, but re-adjust and prepare itself for competitive politics played by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. “It is not that Modi is undefeatable, he can be defeated by putting our party back on track. Major surgery is needed right now, there is no tomorrow," Moily asserted.

'Will never join BJP,' says Kapil Sibal

Meanwhile, senior leader Kapil Sibal also admitted that Congress is facing structural problems but ruled out the possibility of quitting the party to join BJP as Prasada did. When asked whether Congress leaders are losing faith in the party, Sibal said, “I am sure leadership knows what the problems are and I hope they listen because nothing survives without listening. If you don't listen, you will fall into bad days.”

Sibal however added that even if he were to leave Congress in the future, he won’t join the BJP. “We're true Congressmen, never in my life will I think of joining BJP, like over my dead body. It could be that if Congress leadership informs me to leave, I may think of leaving party on that basis but won't join BJP,” he told ANI.

It may be noted that both Veerappa Moily and Kapil Sibal were among the group of 23 leaders along with Jitin Prasada who had written to interim President Sonia Gandhi in August last year urging an organisational overhaul of the party.