Two years after rebelling against the leadership of the Gandhis, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday made public his decision to quit the Congress while filing nomination for the coming Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate, supported by the Samajwadi Party (SP).
“I had tendered my resignation on May 16,” he told reporters in Lucknow, adding, “I have filed my nomination as an independent candidate. It is important to be an independent voice in Parliament. If an independent voice speaks up then people will believe it is not linked to any political party”.
Accompanying him for the filing of nomination papers, SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, “... We hope that the questions in the country, such as rising unemployment, inflation, failing law and order, our borders are not safe...on several such big issues Sibal ji will be able to present the SP’s and his views”.