India needs resurgent Congress-Kapil Sibal

Senior Congress leader and former union minister Kapil Sibal has opined that India needs a resurgent Congress. But for that, the party needs to show that it is active, present, aware and is in the mood to engage meaningfully. He also called for the party to undergo reforms at various levels. For this to happen, we will need to have widespread reforms at the organisational hierarchy both at the central and state levels to show that the party is still a force to reckon with and is no longer in a state of inertia," he said. Sibal also noted that while forming committees to review election losses is good, it will have no impact unless remedies suggested are implemented.

In an exclusive interview to a news agency, the former union minister acknowledged that at present there is no strong political alternative to the BJP but said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost the moral authority to rule and the Congress can present an alternative due to the current mood in the country. He further claimed that currently, there is a void of a political alternative in the country. "The country needs a strong and credible opposition," "Victory of non-BJP parties in recent assembly elections has shown the chinks in the BJP's armour in terms of its vulnerability to losing when faced with a stronger opposition," he said.

Noting that the party's alliances with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam and Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal were "not thought through", Sibal said the Congress has failed to drive home the point that minority and majority communalism are equally dangerous for the country. He cited this as one of the reasons for the poor performance of the party in recent assembly polls. Amid defections of young leaders - Jyotiraditya Scindia and now Jitin Prasada - to the BJP, the former minister said "there is an urgent need to strike a balance between experience and youth." Setting up committees to analyse the reasons for any electoral debacle is welcome but unless the remedies suggested are accepted and acted upon, it will have no impact on the ground." Sibak said,.