Kapil Sibal dumps Congress, seeks Rajya Sabha entry via SP support
Confirming the major political development, Sibal said was no more a senior Congress leader and that he had tendered my resignation from the party on May 16
FollowIn a massive setback for the Congress party, senior leader Kapil Sibal has resigned from the party.
Confirming the major political development, Sibal said he had tendered my resignation from the Congress party on May 16.
Sibal's confirmation came after he filed a nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections, with the support of the Samajwadi Party.
He said, "I have resigned from the Congress party. I submitted my resignation letter on May 16. It is important for an independent voice to be heard. When an independent member's voice will rise, people will know that I am not linked to any party."
"The nomination form, which I have filled, is as an independent candidate. I am grateful to Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan for backing my candidature. I am happy I will be an independent member after scrutiny of my nomination paper," he added.
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Sibal had been elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 from Uttar Pradesh as a Congress candidate supported by the then ruling Samajwadi Party. However, currently, the Congress party is in no position to elect anybody to the House of Elders. Probably, that explains why the eminent lawyer sought Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's support. According to reports, Akhilesh's party can send three members to the Rajya Sabha, one of whom will be Kapil Sibal.
In his response, Akhilesh Yadav said, "Sibal will enter Rajya Sabha with Samajwadi Party's backing. As a lawyer, he has been very successful. As a Rajya Sabha member, he will be better able to express his thoughts on national issues like price rise and China border row on behalf of the Opposition and Samajwadi Party."
Interestingly, Sibal is reportedly also the counsel in multiple cases involving Samajwadi Party leaders in various courts. Based on current strength, the Congress can send just eight members to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
There has been a steady exodus from the Congress party in the last few days. Among those to resign from the party include Gujarat Congress leader Hardik Patel and Sunil Jakhar, who was once touted as one of the chief ministerial faces ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.
Reacting to the development, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said: "There is no space for dissenters in the Congress. Dissenters are shown the door. There is no internal democracy within the Congress party. Nobody can survive in Congress. Nobody who has a true sense of democratic spirit can survive in Congress."
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