‘Only Rahul Gandhi can explain context of his remark’: Kapil Sibal on ‘north-south’ comment

Sibal's reaction comes amid a political slugfest on a comment Rahul Gandhi made in Kerala, in which he was accused of "belittling North Indians".

Distancing himself from Rahul Gandhi’s ‘north-south’ remark, Congress leader Kapil Sibal Wednesday said the “elector in the country is wise” and “we must respect his wisdom regardless of wherever he (electoral) is located”.

Sibal’s reaction comes amid a political slugfest on a comment Rahul Gandhi made in Thiruvananthapuram, in which he was accused of “belittling North Indians”.

“I’m nobody to comment on what he (Rahul) said. He said it and he can explain in what context he said,” Sibal told ANI.

“I can only say that the elector in the country is wise and we must respect his wisdom wherever he is located. It is the elector that ultimately votes for you…and we must not denigrate their wisdom,” he added.

Sibal, however, also trained guns at the BJP, saying that their accusation of the Congress party dividing the country is “laughable”. “This is the government that actually divided people since it came to power,” he said.

Addressing a public gathering in Thiruvananthapuram, Gandhi had said, “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.”

Gandhi’s remarks were soon subject to an attack by several BJP leaders, who said that the comments were “anti-north Indians” and alleged the Congress leader “was being an opportunist” despite him and his family winning several elections from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

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“Insulting Indians is a favourite pastime of Rahul Gandhi. Indians are not superficial you are Mr Rahul Gandhi,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a tweet.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also targeted Gandhi, accusing him of “differentiating the country’s atmosphere”.

“Yours is a national party and you are differentiating the country’s atmosphere. This certainly raises a question about the level of your responsibility (as a national party leader),” Prasad said during a media briefing.

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