Former Union minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday made a grave allegation against the Congress leadership, suggesting that those who ask questions would be heckled and contending that “silence” was the only safe harbour.

Chidambaram is the first senior leader outside the “Group of 23” dissidents who on Thursday condemned the attack on the house of Kapil Sibal who had on Wednesday raised questions about the functioning of the party. The G-23 members such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vivek Tankha criticised the vandalism at Sibal’s house.

Kapil Sibal File photo

There was no official reaction from the party.

Chidambaram’s statement is significant as it vindicates Sibal’s claim that the G-23 group is much bigger.

Chidambaram tweeted: “I feel helpless when we cannot start meaningful conversations within party forums. I also feel hurt and helpless when I see pictures of Congress workers raising slogans outside the residence of a colleague and MP. The safe harbour to which one can withdraw seems to be silence.”

This charge will give the BJP a legitimate excuse to question Rahul Gandhi’s pet theme that the Congress did politics with love and believed in democratic values. A veteran such as Chidambaram went so far as to express fear about raising issues.

A general secretary countered him on the condition of anonymity, saying: “The problem is that questions are being raised through the media, not at party forums. There is a design to undermine the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.”

Asked who attacked Sibal’s house, an office-bearer said: “They were all local sympathisers and workers of the Congress from Chandni Chowk. It must have been an emotional outburst as the media’s message was that Sibal had attacked the Gandhi family.”

The anger, however, wasn’t restricted to ordinary workers. Youth Congress president B.V. Srinivas on Thursday tweeted: “Those who stab in the back are talking of cultured response.”

Taking to Twitter, spokesperson Pawan Khera said: “For us, brave fighters of Congress, who fight in studios, on line and on streets across India, it upsets us to see senior leaders going public with their utterances. We won’t get disheartened.”

One G-23 leader laughed at this lament, reminding him that he was attacking the leaders who were fighting for the Congress since Indira Gandhi’s time.

The G-23 leaders strongly condemned the hooliganism and asked Sonia Gandhi to discipline the wrongdoers.