Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that the parties in the INDIA alliance need to “sit together and work things out” following the heavy losses suffered by both Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly elections, adding to a series of setbacks.
Speaking about Congress, Sibal noted that the party always aims to collaborate and move forward with consensus. However, he acknowledged that challenges arise within the alliance, citing the 2020 Bihar assembly elections as an example, where Congress’ poor performance cost the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ a majority.
“Congress party always tries to work together and to move ahead with consent. This is true that there are problems at times. In the last election in Bihar, Congress were given seats but they could not win and RJD said that they could not come to power because of Congress. All the parties (of INDIA alliance) will have to decide how to contest elections,” Sibal said at a press conference.
Sibal says BJP fights elections under ‘single command’
With the BJP securing victories in the recent Delhi, Maharashtra, and Haryana assembly elections, Kapil Sibal highlighted the party’s advantage of contesting elections under a “single command.”
Speaking on the matter, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “In the BJP, the advantage is that there is a single command and they fight elections under that single command, hence they benefit too. In Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Congress fought in alliance and they got the benefit. They (INDIA alliance) will have to sit and work things out.”
Sibal also referred to Sharad Pawar’s stance, emphasising that the INDIA alliance is a national coalition rather than a state-level alliance.
“Sharad Pawar reiterated many times that the national alliance is applicable only when national elections are held and it is not applicable in regional elections. Our regional parties want to have some footprint outside the state as well and the national party wants their footprint not to be reduced, so this discussion should move forward with the consent of all INDIA alliance partners,” he said.
He further assured that the INDIA alliance remains strong, stating, “There is no doubt that the INDIA alliance will stay intact. Those who manage the leadership of our regional parties are very sensible people and they know what challenges we are facing.”
Delhi assembly poll results
The Congress, aiming for a comeback in Delhi, suffered another setback as it failed to secure a single seat for the third time.
On February 8, the BJP clinched a two-thirds majority with 48 seats, while the ruling AAP was voted out of power with 22 seats.