Is Kapil Sibal's dinner, a recipe for Opposition unity

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal's dinner party holds immense significance in the current political scenario. Among the G23 group of Congress party, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari attended the dinner party, while, none of the Gandhis attended it. While the Opposition is giving a thought for a united front in an aim to defeat BJP in 2024 General Elections, Congress is fighting its own internal battle.

New Delhi: Amid the internal feud in the Congress party, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal had called key opposition leaders for a dinner party at 8 Teen Murti Lane, here in Delhi, a day after his birthday. This dinner party holds immense significance in the current political scenario. Among the G23 group of Congress party, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari attended the dinner party, while Gandhi family remained absent from the meeting. While the Opposition is giving a thought for a united front in an aim to defeat BJP in 2024 General Elections, Congress is fighting its own internal battle.

Opposition leaders who attended this meeting include NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, TMC's MP Derek O'Brien, Samajwadi Party senior leader Akhilesh Yadav and many others. Interestingly, leaders of Akali Dal, BJD, YSRCP and TDP who stayed away from the United Opposition front using the Monsoon Session of Parliament, also attended the dinner.

However, it must be noted that Sibal, who is considered as the most aggressive face among the G23 group of Congress dissenters, got successful in uniting even those Opposition leaders who preferred to skip the breakfast meeting which was hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently to build up a strategy against the Central government. Even after writing a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, demanding an organizational overhaul, Sibal has been launching attacks against his own party members many times.

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A source within Congress said, "The dinner party is an attempt to showcase his strength and to give a clear message to the Congress that he can't be ignored. Meanwhile, the office of Kapil Sibal claimed that it is a "personal dinner party" and has nothing to do with politics. On the other hand, Congress is quite displeased over Sibal's move to call all key Opposition parties and to make an attempt for uniting them. "This has shown his own party leadership tenuous," a Congress functionary said.

During the dinner party, many of the Opposition leaders asserted the need to unite to tackle BJP in the 2024 General Elections. According to the sources, demand was also being made to sort out the issues within the Congress party and to strengthen its leadership, while leaders like Omar Abdullah and Lalu Yadav appreciated the fact that Congress has now pulled up its socks.

A source informed that Sharad Pawar agreed to the idea of a united Opposition while asserting that the issues that are being raised by Kapil Sibal, both internal and external of the party, must be taken into consideration. While Omar Abdullah asserted that the strengthening of the Congress party would eventually lead to the strengthening of the entire Opposition, a source informed.

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Pertinent to mention, Congress party's dissenters, also known as the G-23 are the group of 23 dissenting leaders who had questioned the party's functioning in a letter to interim president Sonia Gandhi.

Last year in August also, G-23 leaders through a letter to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi had expressed their discontent and urged the top leadership of Congress to bring immediate reforms, including organisational elections from the grass-roots to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) level.