Deepening the crisis in Congress further, Kapil Sibal, a prominent face of the G-23 group of dissenting leaders, resigned from the party and filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent on Wednesday in Lucknow, backed by the Samajwadi Party (SP). Sibal filed his nomination papers from Uttar Pradesh in the presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and other party leaders in Lucknow. Sibal is retiring from the Rajya Sabha on 4 July. “I had
tendered my resignation from the Congress on 16 May,” he said after filing his nomination. “I have filed nomination as an independent candidate. I have always wanted to be an independent voice in the country. While staying in Opposition, we want to create an alliance so that we can oppose the Modi government. We want the flaws of the Modi government to be known to the people in 2024. I will put my efforts for that,” he added. Sibal is likely to get elected to the Upper House as the SP has 111 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Notably, Sibal had been critical of the Congress high command on various issues and has been demanding sweeping reforms in the party, including elections for the post of the Congress president. Sibal had made “ghar ki Congress” remark during an interview in which he had also said that he was not surprised by results in the five state elections and that the leadership should have worked out a plan for the party’s rejuvenation. Sibal said, “I will not say anything about the Congress. I have resigned. So it is not appropriate for me to say anything about Congress. It is not easy to leave a relationship of 30-31 years. In the past, only a few came to House by getting elected independently, especially in Rajya Sabha. I have got a big opportunity and it has been given to me by Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Azam Khan. I will raise the issues of the country in the House.”
“I am deeply grateful to Akhileshji for his support. I also wish to convey my gratitude to Azam Khan. I always wanted to be an independent voice in the country. I am glad Akhileshji understands why that is so. I am no more a serious Congress leader,” he added.
Sibal has enjoyed a good rapport with the Yadav family; he has been fighting cases of the UP government when Akhilesh Yadav was in power; moreover, when there was an internal fight for the cycle symbol in the Election Commission, it was Sibal who stood for Akhilesh Yadav.
Meanwhile, regarding Sibal quitting the Congress, party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said that “people come and go from our party” and did not blame anyone for the move. “He had already written a letter to the Party President. The letter says that he firmly believed in the values of Congress. He said nothing else. Let him state his position.
Then I can say. The resignation letter is of a very high standard. People come and go from our party. This is a big party. Some may be leaving the party. I am not going to blame anybody who left the party. Congress has a vast space,” Venugopal said. He added, “The party will be completely rebuilt. It intends to go with a comprehensive re-organization. A lot of guidelines are going to come. Each person will have a task.”
“During this regime, the Central Government is using the CBI, intelligence and all other agencies to eliminate political opponents. They are working to eliminate other political parties by using vicious methods that have never been used by any government. It’s hard to survive. But we have confidence. The Congress has the strength to overcome this. The Congress also has leaders for that. There will be temporary setbacks here and there. We will study the problems. The party will be strengthened and taken forward brilliantly,” he said.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS