INDIA bloc doesn't need common minimum programme but must present vision for country: Kapil Sibal

Sibal said he does see the "cracks" in the opposition bloc but does not see them "breaching" the alliance because they are with reference to politics that is happening in various states. He said alliances at the state level would not be an issue and even in states such as Punjab the fight if at all would be between AAP and the Congress with the victor being part of the INDIA alliance.

New Delhi:Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday expressed confidence that the "cracks" in the INDIA bloc would not breach the alliance and asserted that the opposition coalition needs a new vision for the future of the country rather than a common minimum programme. Sibal, who is a prominent voice in the opposition and had attended the meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Mumbai last month, alleged that the Adani issue is a "scandal" but the opposition does not have the data to prove it.

"I don't know how far that (Adani issue) will gel with the people. But the fact of the matter is that as an alliance, we need to look at larger issues that will give hope to the generations of tomorrow," he said in his second episode of his YouTube initiative 'Dil Se'.

Asked about cracks in the opposition alliance including Congress leaders in Delhi and Punjab urging the party's leadership to not have a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Sibal said, "We must look at it from two different perspectives, one is how is the INDIA alliance is going to face the NDA, the other is the internal politics of the INDIA alliance which is another thing altogether."

"This dialogue (between opposition parties) is happening at two levels and because there is some opposition at the other level, you think the INDIA alliance is not going to work but the fact of the matter is that when it comes to the Lok Sabha elections, you will see the kind of unity you have not seen before despite the fact of what you are saying that there are cracks in the alliance," the former Union minister said.

Sibal said he does see the "cracks" in the opposition bloc but does not see them "breaching" the alliance because they are with reference to politics that is happening in various states. He said alliances at the state level would not be an issue and even in states such as Punjab the fight if at all would be between AAP and the Congress with the victor being part of the INDIA alliance.

"Similarly in Haryana, so there is no problem other than maybe Delhi...even in West Bengal, the Congress is not the main player in that state," he said. On the leadership question of the INDIA bloc, Sibal said the strategy of the opposition will evolve in the next few months whether they are going to project a leader or not.

"History has shown us that even if you don't project a leader, as long as you raise real issues of the people (it is fine)," he said. Sibal said his criticism of the INDIA alliance was not at that level but that they have not lineated a vision for India. "The battle is the battle of issues which at the moment the INDIA alliance is not projecting -- what are the issues that confront the nation tomorrow," the former Congress leader said.

"We should not commit ourselves to the narrative of the past. We need a narrative for the future. It should not be personality-oriented, it should not take inspiration from the past so much. ...We need a new vision for India, I don't think we need a common minimum programme, we are talking about it. My personal view is that we don't need a common minimum programme, we need a vision for tomorrow," he said.

Sibal also said that in his personal opinion attacking Modi on a personal level is "not going to take us very far" but attacking him for what he has not been able to do during his tenure as Prime Minister should be done. Sibal also said seat sharing would be a problem for the opposition alliance and the key was the new vision which "they had not concentrated on".

The Rajya Sabha MP last month started his new 'Dil Se' initiative under which he engages fortnightly in a conversation with a journalist on important issues. Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. He has floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf' aimed at fighting injustice. (PTI)