In an interview where he reveals details of the conversation at the dinner he hosted for opposition parties on August 9 as well as his thinking about Sonia Gandhi’s separate track to forge opposition unity, Kapil Sibal has said that his dinner forged “a coalition of interests, a coalition of thoughts” that is focussed on defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He said none of the political parties present at the dinner – which included the Left parties, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Samajwadi Party, the Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party, among others – demurred when it was said that to defeat the BJP in 2024, they would need to field a single candidate in a one-to-one fight against the saffron party in 2024. Sibal also indicated that he was very happy to subsume his attempts to forge opposition unity within a separate track that Sonia Gandhi is launching when she holds virtual meetings with opposition leaders on August 20.In a 40-minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sibal agreed with and accepted that to field a single opposition candidate against the BJP in at least 400 seats individual opposition parties would have to accept a possibly substantial measure of the sacrifice of their individual party interests for the sake of the greater national interest of defeating the BJP. Sibal said although there was no specific agreement on this particular point, it was accepted and understood by everyone present and, again, there was no demurring. On this point, Sibal was specifically asked about the opinion of the Congressmen at his dinner – the two Chidambarams, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Singh Hooda – and said none of them demurred or expressed a contrary opinion.Explaining this point further, Kapil Sibal said there were some states where it would be difficult to put up a single united opposition candidate against the BJP. One such state is Punjab, where the Congress, the Akalis and AAP are rivals, although all three were present at Sibal’s dinner. Sibal does not believe that in Punjab these parties will agree to sacrifice their party interest for the greater national goal. In another state, Kerala, if the CPI(M) and its allies fight against the Congress and its allies and thus do not put up a single candidate against the BJP, it will not matter to the overall national Lok Sabha tally because in this particular instance, whoever wins would be part of the wider opposition unity vis-à-vis the BJP.This is why Sibal pointed out the aim is to have a single candidate in at least 400 seats but not all 543.Sibal revealed to The Wire that talks between opposition leaders to forge opposition unity, singly or collectively, have been going on, quietly and not publicly, for six-eight months prior to his dinner on August 9.One of the more important points made by Kapil Sibal in The Wire interview is that the entire project of opposition unity would fail if the Congress cannot revitalise itself. He said this point was made at his dinner by Omar Abdullah and, again, everyone present – including all the members of the Congress Party – accepted this point. He said the Congress cannot continue as a party without a full-time president. He said this is a breach of public duty, thus clearly suggesting it’s not just a political but also a constitutional and moral necessity for Congress to appoint a president quickly.There’s a substantial section of the interview where Sibal is questioned about the fact that Sonia Gandhi and her children don’t seem to be making any credible effort to appoint a president and to implement the suggestions to revitalise the party made by a letter sent by the group of 23. This section ends with Sibal saying repeatedly that he prays to God that the revitalisation of the Congress will happen. This was said when it was pointed out to him that Sonia Gandhi has so far ignored or brushed aside all suggestions to revitalise the party and at the moment there isn’t even a date to elect a new president.In The Wire interview, Sibal repeatedly said he would be very happy to subsume his efforts at forging opposition unity under those that Sonia Gandhi will make on August 20, when she has convened a virtual interaction with top opposition leaders. As he put it, “efface us”, but please pursue the task of forging opposition unity.In the early part of the interview, Sibal said he and his colleagues will be very happy to help Sonia Gandhi and will have no problem subsuming their efforts under her leadership. However, at another point, towards the end of the interview, Sibal added the condition “provided we are involved”. When asked whether “we” means Kapil Sibal or all the other Congressmen present at his dinner, Sibal repeated a point he made earlier in the interview as well, i.e. he is not important and the party can get rid of him and drop him, but it must continue with the effort to forge unity.This point, about how he can be dispensed with or even thrown out of the party, was made by Sibal two-three times. The Wire asked him if he was conveying a message to Sonia Gandhi who, undoubtedly, would be made aware of the interview and its contents, but Sibal seemed to evade the question though he continued to repeat the point that he could be dispensed with. He said: “This is not about me”, meaning the issue of opposition unity and the second issue of the Congress’s revitalisation are more important and he does not want to be an obstacle to either.In The Wire interview, Mr Sibal revealed that he cannot quite remember when he last had a conversation with Sonia Gandhi, adding that it was probably a year ago, possibly longer. He also said he has not had a conversation with Rahul Gandhi for at least two years.