Former Congress leader Kapil Sibal.
Highlight
- Long time Congress leader Kapil Sibal has resigned from the party.
- Sibal filed nomination papers for the term of Rajya Sabha with the support of Samajwadi Party
- Sibal said he dreams of bringing all opposition parties together in the fight against BJP in 2024
Long-time Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who announced his resignation from the party on May 16, on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Rajya Sabha as a Samajwadi Party-backed independent candidate from Uttar Pradesh.
Sibal, whose exit is another blow to the electorally battered Congress, which has seen 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, the party he has been with for over three decades, he said that he does not harbor any ill-will and is not away from the party and its ideology.
The former Union minister, along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and other senior leaders, had gone to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly complex to file the papers.
A key member of the ‘G23’ group of leaders that demanded organizational change in the Congress, Sibal’s term as the party’s Rajya Sabha MP ends on July 4.
Speaking on his exit from the Congress party, Sibal said, “No political party gives freedom to leaders which is the tragedy of the Indian Parliament. There is no concept of whip in any other parliament across the world. Ours is a different one. Attitudes can be there. But we can’t express them and often get confined while at a party.”
Kapil Sibal said, “I still say that we all follow the ideology of Congress which is the ideology of an inclusive India. This is the ideology of the entire opposition and we will move forward on the basis of that.”
As Sibal comes in yet another blow to the Congress, a look at the big 5 exit from the grand-old party in recent times.
Former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhari
Kapil Sibal is the fifth high-profile exit from the Congress this year as he split from the party and filed his Rajya Sabha nomination from the state of Uttar Pradesh as an independent candidate with the support of the Samajwadi Party.
Before Sibal, former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar had left the party only to join the BJP.
Sunil Jakhar said after joining BJP that it was not easy to break 50 years of relationship with Congress. “From 1972 to 2022, my three generations considered Congress as my family. Standing with the party in every good and bad time. But attempts were made to suppress my nationalist voice in Congress. I was given notice to speak in interest It was of Punjab and of the country,” he said.
Former Law Minister Ashwini Kumar, Former Union Minister RPN Singh, Hardik Patel
Former Law Minister Ashwini Kumar and former Union Minister RPN Singh also broke away from Congress and recently Gujarat Congress Working President Hardik Patel also left the party.
Gujarat’s Patidar leader Hardik Patel has also targeted the party on the issue of Hindutva and alleged that the Congress party is working to hurt the sentiments of the people. It always tries to harm the faith of Hinduism.
Former Law Minister Ashwini Kumar was angry with the party leadership and said, “I was feeling uneasy, helpless and neglected for the past several months and I understood that I was no longer needed in the party. So, I distanced myself. I was not able to do what I wanted to do by staying inside the party. So I decided to do my duty and now I can do what I feel comfortable doing.” He predicted a loss for the Congress in Punjab.
Similarly, RPN Singh left the Congress before the UP elections and joined the BJP. Last year, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Jitin Prasada and many others bid goodbye to the party, once considered close to the Gandhi family.
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