Kapil Sibal files RS nomination as SP-backed Independent, says he quit Cong last week

Saying that he had resigned from the Congress last week, Kapil Sibal on Wednesday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha as an Independent supported by the Samajwadi Party.

Sibal, whose exit from the Congress is another jolt to the electorally battered party, went to the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises to file his papers with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and other senior leaders.

A prominent member of the G23, which had sought an organizational overhaul in the Congress, Sibal’s tenure as Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP ends in July, ”I have filed the nomination as an Independent candidate. I thank Akhileshji for supporting me,” Sibal told reporters in Lucknow.

”I resigned from the Congress on May 16 and am no longer a senior Congress leader,” he said. Yadav later said Sibal is being supported by the Samajwadi Party.

Sibal has been vocal in his criticism of the Congress leadership and had called for a non-Gandhi as the new party chief. ”We are all constrained by fact that we are members of parties and have to abide by the discipline of that party but it is important to have an independent voice,” the former Union minister said while filing his nomination papers.

”We want to make a coalition and oppose the Modi government. We want to create an atmosphere in which we can oppose the BJP. I will personally work towards that,” he said.

Sibal’s resignation comes close on the heels of Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel resigning from the Congress, which recently held a ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur. Elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh are underway.