Kapil Sibal, a vocal member of the dissident G-23 grouping, resigned from the Congress party and filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha as an “independent” candidate, with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav by his side at Lucknow’s Vidhan Bhavan.
Sibal told reporters he had resigned from Congress on May 16, ending his three-decade-old relationship. While avoiding harsh words for Congress, Sibal said he wished his erstwhile party well and said that he will try to bring together all opposition parties against the anti-people and communal BJP.
Sibal has never been a mass leader, but given his name and stature, his exit is arguably the most dramatic in recent times compared to Ashwini Kumar, RPN Singh, Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel. Sources said the prominent lawyer who successfully defended before the Election Commission Akhilesh Yadav’s claim for the ‘bicycle’ symbol following a rift in SP and had been appearing for Samajwadi leader Azam Khan, had a long meeting with Sonia Gandhi after he sent his resignation to her.
His move is a dampener for Congress as it came just 10 days after the Udaipur brainstorming session, which was designed to project a restart with organisational restructuring and a ‘Mission 2024’. It has been raining resignations in Congress lately. Though most of these leaders rode the Congress’s 2004-14 ascendance to election victories and Rajya Sabha nominations, and have since been out of favour with voters, Sibal is a celebrated name who has connections across party lines and is a cut above other defectors.
