Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has sought to balance the criticism of party leader Rahul Gandhi over his 'North vs South' remark made at a public meeting in Kerala earlier this week. Sibal said that the 'wisdom of the electors' should be respected.
Sibal, one of the 23 leaders who openly questioned party leadership, said that the BJP's allegations that the Congress is trying to 'divide and rule' were laughable. He said that it is the BJP which is dividing the country.
"I am nobody to comment on what he (Rahul Gandhi) said. He said it and he can explain in what context he said it... (but) we must respect electors in the country and not denigrate their wisdom. They know who to vote for and why," news agency ANI quoted Sibal as saying.
"(And) it is laughable that that the BJP is saying the Congress is trying to divide the country. This is a government that has divided people since it came to power in 2014," he added.
Rahul Gandhi is facing a barrage of criticism from the BJP over his controversial 'North vs South' remark made in his home constituency Wayand in Kerala. The saffron party has accused him of being an 'opportunist' and alleged that he belittled north Indians.
"For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues," the former Congress chief said while addressing a public gathering in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Senior BJP leader and Amethi MP Smriti Irani called him "ungrateful" and said the popular saying about such a person is "one without much knowledge blabbers more". Irani had defeated Rahul in his family bastion Amethi during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul, who was representing Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha since 2004, contested from Wayanad constituency in Kerala simultaneously. Although he lost Amethi to Smriti Irani, he won from the Congress bastion in Kerala.
READ MORE: BJP launches no-holds-barred attack on Rahul Gandhi over 'North vs South' remark
READ MORE: 'Grateful to Amethi voters': Congress firefights Rahul's 'South vs North' remark
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