Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal announced his resignation from the Congress on Wednesday, just moments after filing his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate backed by the Samajwadi Party.
“I resigned from the Congress party on May 16,” Kapil Sibal declared, astounded the media with information that had remained hidden since the Congress “Chintan Shivir,” or strategy meeting, a week ago.
When confronted with questions, he remarked, “I am no longer a serious Congress leader.”
This is the fifth high-profile departure from Congress in five months. Mr Sibal resigned a day after the Congress held a brainstorming session to discuss a strategy for the party’s revival following a string of devastating election defeats.
Sibal, a senior Congress leader, was among the “G-23,” or group of 23 dissenters, who demanded a complete overhaul of the party’s leadership and organisation in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi two years ago.
