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A day after filing his Rajya Sabha nomination as an independent candidate former Congress leader Kapil Sibal spoke exclusively with Hindustan Times about his decision to resign from the party and ruled out joining any other political party. He also confirmed meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and blamed the Gandhis for Congress’s poor poll performances.
In response to the most pertinent question of how difficult it was to resign from the Congress, Sibal stated, “When you have been almost 31 years with a political party, when you have seen all the ups and downs, leaving the family is not easy. Be that as it may, you have to think in terms of what contributions you can make to the polity of the country, and on occasions, you have to decide to chart your own course. I have no complaints at all, the Congress was very kind to me. I have not parted with any sense of anger or anything like that."
He has made it clear that he wants to remain an independent voice, “I have always been saying that I want to be an independent voice and I will not join any other political party. It was extremely gracious of Akhilesh [Yadav] and the leadership of the Samajwadi Party including Azam Khan and others to endorse my candidature as an Independent."
Sibal's decision to leave the party came two months after he publicly asked the Gandhis. “I am no longer a Congressman. Within the Congress, I could say what I felt. Outside, I have no business commenting on the past. I wish Congress well and that it rejuvenates and becomes the national force it was meant to be. I have nothing further to say on the internal affairs of the Congress. They will settle themselves," Sibal told.
As a member of the so-called G-23 grouping of Congress leaders, Sibal had been pushing for organisational changes in the party and had said last year that the grouping is not “Ji Huzoor-23" (not yes men). His Rajya Sabha term ends on July 4. Sibal served as a minister during the entire 10-year tenure of the UPA government, shifting between science and technology, law, human resource development, and earth sciences portfolios. He was also handed the telecom portfolio after A Raja was removed following the 2G scandal.