In Third Big Exit After Chintan Shivir, Now Kapil Sibal Leaves Congress

Senior leader, Kapil Sibal has quit the Congress party. He filed Rajya Sabha nomination papers today (25 May) as an independent candidate. He was accompanied by Samajwadi Party supremo, Akhilesh Yadav. Kapil Sibal represented SP leader Azam Khan in multiple cases, for which, he was in jail since 2020. Recently, Azam Khan was granted bail.

Sibal was part of the G23 group that had written to Sonia Gandhi advocating sweeping changes in the party back in 2020. However, he fell out of favour with the Nehru-Gandhi family after he called for the family to step down from the party leadership and allow new leaders to emerge within the party.

In March 2022, in an interview with Indian Express, he said “Leadership in cuckoo land… I want a Sab ki Congress. Some want a Ghar ki Congress”.

His statement earned him brickbats from Gandhi family loyalists, who called him ungrateful for all the party did for him. His fellow members from G23 also did not choose to support him. A few days prior to his remarks, the CWC meeting rejected Sonia Gandhi’s offer to step down, along with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, from the leadership of the party. The CWC meet came after Congress’s rout in the five state elections that included Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa.

This is the third big resignation in the Congress party in the month of May, post the party’s much-publicised Chintan Shivir held at Udaipur. Earlier this month, Sunil Jakhar and Hardik Patel, too, deserted the Congress, signalling disillusionment with the party’s internal workings as well as leadership’s disconnect with the people.

Post filing his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, Kapil Sibal is looking to unite the opposition to oppose the BJP.

Also Read: Hardik Patel Resigns From Congress; Cites Party Leaders Obsessing Over Chicken Sandwich In Letter