‘Need comprehensive review’: P Chidambaram joins Congress critics

File image: Congress leader P Chidambaram

Former union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that the 2020 Bihar Assembly election and recent bypoll results have shown that his party does not have organisational presence on the ground or has weakened considerably. Chidambaram’s comments come at a time when tensions within the party are already simmering over senior leader Kapil Sibal's open criticism.

In an interview with newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, Chidambaram said that Congress might have contested more seats in Bihar than it should have.

"I am more worried about the bypoll results in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. These results show that the party either has no organisational presence on the ground or has been weakened considerably," Chidambaram said when asked about Congress' poor performance in recent elections despite the novel coronavirus pandemic-triggered economic crisis being a key point of campaign.

"In Bihar, the RJD-Congress had a chance of winning. Why we lost despite being so close to victory is something that needs comprehensive review. Remember, not long ago the Congress had won Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand," he said.

Chidambaram also pointed out that the Bihar results had proved that even smaller parties like CPI-ML and AIMIM could perform if they are organisationally strong at the grassroots level.

"I feel the Congress contested more seats than its organisational strength. The Congress was given 25 seats where the BJP or its allies had been winning for 20 years. The Congress should have refused to contest from these seats. The party should have fielded only 45 candidates," he said when asked if the party why the party was being seen as the weak link in the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

The Congress has seen internal rumblings following its poor show in the Bihar polls. The tussle continued on November 18 when the Grand Old Party's Leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, attacked senior party leader Sibal over the latter's comments calling for introspection.

Chowdhury said that those criticising the party are free to join some other party or start their own rather than indulging in "embarrassing activities". Without taking any names, Chowdhury also said that "such leaders" are close to both interim President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and can raise these issues with them.