In yet another blow for the Congress, Former Union minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said he had quit the party.
Sibal was accompanied by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as he arrived at the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday to file his nomination for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election. Sibal said he would be an “independent voice” in the Rajya Sabha, indicating he had not joined the Samajwadi Party yet, but would contest with the party's support. “It is important to be an independent voice in Parliament. If an independent voice speaks up, then people will believe it is not from any political party,” Sibal was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Sibal said he had tendered his resignation to the Congress on May 16.
Sibal had been one of the most outspoken members of the G-23 group of 'rebel' leaders in the Congress. He had publicly called for the Gandhi family to relinquish control of the party. Sibal had not been invited to participate in the recent Chintan Shivir of the Congress in Udaipur.
SP media in-charge Ashish Yadav said that as Sibal was filing his nomination with the SP, it was safe to assume that he was a member of the party. “Once his nomination papers are released, it will be clear whether or not he has filed them as an independent or a party member. But yes, there has been no high-profile joining on his part,” Ashish Yadav said.
A total of 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh will fall vacant in early July. On the basis of their respective numbers, the BJP can win seven seats and the SP three. The BJP would need to contest for the eighth seat.
(With inputs from Puja Awasthi)
