Former Union Law Minister Salman Khursid on Monday noted that the Congress party was not a place to ‘negotiate ambition’ but a platform for service and asserted that ‘democracy is more than elections’.
Though Mr. Khursid didn’t mention anyone, his series of tweets on the state of the party came after his colleague Kapil Sibal, one of the group of 23 (G-23) dissenting leaders, had spoken about the lack of clarity of the organisation’s internal elections and a level of ‘disenchantment’ among its workers.
“Ask not what your party can do for you; ask what you can do for your party. The Congress is not for negotiating ambition but a platform for service. Elections are important but democracy is more than elections,” Mr. Khursid said.
“For some of us politics is a noble passion, a dream for humanity, a commitment to the idea of justice. It is certainly not idle ambition of fame and power. Congress is like a foster mother. It is feeling not transaction. What is it you?” he stated in another tweet.
“JustMe is not about Justice. Time we sifted form from substance. Good is different from good presentations. Having got accustomed to acclaim some of us forget that a smile of a broken heart means much more. Seek prayer not power,”said another cryptic tweet from him.
‘Open discussion’
In a recent interview, Mr. Sibal acknowledged that party president Sonia Gandhi held an ‘open discussion’ last month but there was lack of clarity on the way forward.
In August last, G-23 leaders including Leader of the Opposition in the Rakya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, his deputy Anand Sharma, Lok Sabha members Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor among others.
On December 19, for the first time, Ms. Gandhi met key members of the G-23 to discuss revival plans for the party and agreed to hold a ‘chintan shivir’ (brainstorming session) once the COVID-19 situation eased.
