Congress has to be fulcrum of coalition that takes on BJP in 2024: Kapil Sibal

The Congress has to be at the centre of any coalition that would take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections and all Opposition parties should be more mindful of sensitivities as well as be circumspect in criticising each other’s ideologies in order to build a strong alliance, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Sunday. Sibal, a prominent voice in the Opposition ranks, gave a clarion call to all political parties opposed to the BJP-led government to first find a common platform which, he said, could also be his newly-launched ‘Insaaf’ platform for fighting injustice. In an interview with PTI, the former Union minister said the leadership question of an Opposition coalition for 2024 need not be answered at this stage and also cited the example of 2004 when the incumbent Atal Bihari Vajpayee dispensation was voted out of power despite the Opposition not having a declared face. He asserted that the Congress certainly has to be the fulcrum and at the centre of any coalition of Opposition parties that will take on the BJP in 2024. Asked if Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar’s statement backing the Adani Group which is facing certain allegations jolted the Opposition unity, Sibal said, ”If you narrow down issues then you will have differences among political parties. If you have a broad collaborative platform which does not deal with narrow issues, the possibility of consensus is much greater.” ”If Rahul Gandhi has a point of view in the context of crony capitalism in India, I think Sharad Pawar ji would not be averse to a platform relating to crony capitalism, that subsumes individuals. So what we need is to have these broad platforms on the basis of which we can ensure that the Opposition is united,” he said. He said the moment issues are narrowed down problems arise and gave the example of parties having different points of view on a particular legislation. ”You should allow different parties to have differ