Kapil Sibal quits Congress, files RS papers with SP support
Former Congress leader Kapil Sibal with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav as he files his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha with the latter's support, at Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on Wednesday. Also seen is Sibal's wife Promila Sibal
Lucknow/ New Delhi: Announcing that he had resigned from the party on May 16, long-time Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Rajya Sabha as a Samajwadi Party-backed Independent candidate from Uttar Pradesh.
Sibal, whose exit is another jolt for the electorally battered Congress that has seen a spate of high-profile resignations, said he dreams of bringing all opposition parties together in the fight against the BJP in 2024. Refusing to speak against the Congress, a party he has been with for three decades, he said he bears it no ill-will and is not far from the party and its ideology.
The former Union minister went to the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises to file his papers with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and other senior leaders by his side. A prominent member of the 'G23' grouping of leaders, which had sought an organisational overhaul in the Congress, Sibal's tenure as the party's Rajya Sabha MP ends on July 4. "I have filed the nomination as an Independent candidate. I thank Akhileshji for supporting me," Sibal told reporters in Lucknow. "I resigned from the Congress on May 16 and am no longer a Congress leader," he said, refusing to be drawn into criticism of the party.
"I had a deep relationship with the Congress. It was for 30-31 years. This is not a small thing. I joined the Congress because of Rajivji (former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi). You must be thinking, how one can go from the Congress after 31 years. There must be something… Sometimes such decisions are to be taken." He added that his ideology continues to be related with the Congress.
"I am not far away from the Congress and its ideology. I am with the sentiments of the party," he said. His effort and his dream would be to see that all opposition parties come together on a common platform to fight the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the lawyer-politician said. "We want to make a coalition and oppose the Modi government. We want to create an atmosphere in which we can oppose the BJP. I will personally work towards that," he said. Discussing the SP's support to Sibal, Akhilesh Yadav described him as a senior leader and a well-known lawyer.