Kapil Sibal files RS nomination with SP’s backing, says quit Congress last week
Congress did not immediately react to Kapil Sibal’s move but two leaders maintained it came after an indication from the party that he would not get another Rajya Sabha nomination.
Former Union minister Kapil Sibal, who has been a vocal critic of the Congress leadership, on Wednesday said he has resigned from the party as he filed his nomination for a fresh term in Rajya Sabha with Samajwadi Party (SP)’s backing.
Kapil Sibal filing nomination for Rajya Sabha elections. (ANI)
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Sibal was among the Congress leaders who sought the party’s organisational overhaul. He is unlikely to join SP but will remain an associated member. SP also supported Sibal for his previous tenure in Rajya Sabha, which ends in July.
Congress did not immediately react to Sibal’s move but two leaders maintained it came after an indication from the party that he would not get another Rajya Sabha nomination. Sibal’s primary Congress membership expired and he did not renew it earlier this year, people aware of the matter said.
Sibal was legal authority for the Congress and fought several cases for the party before he became a critic of its leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi, two years back. He questioned the “arbitrary” functioning of the party.
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Sibal was legal authority for the Congress and fought several cases for the party before he became a critic of its leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi, two years back. He questioned the “arbitrary” functioning of the party.
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Sibal’s criticism prompted Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to hit back in October during a Congress Working Committee meeting. She said there was “no need for talking to me through media” and reminded the dissenters she has been “a full-time and hands-on Congress President”.
The comments came days after Sibal held a press conference and said, “There is no president in our party, so we do not know who is taking all the decisions. We know it, yet we do not know.”
Sibal was a minister throughout the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s 10-year rule from 2004 to 2014. He held science and technology, law, human resource development (HRD), and earth sciences portfolios. He was HRD minister when the landmark Right to Education Law entailing free education as a fundamental right for children between six and 14 was enacted.
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Sibal defended the government when it faced criticism over the 2G spectrum allocation scam and refuted the notional loss theory emphasising there was “zero loss”.
Over the past few years, several prominent leaders, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Ashwani Kumar, RPN Singh, have left the Congress.
Pankaj Jaiswal is Bureau Chief, Uttar Pradesh. He covers-analyses politics, and assists Hindustan Times reporters across the state. He has 30 years of experience in print media reporting. Based in Lucknow, he started his journalism career at a national English daily in Kanpur after graduating from Christ Church College. He joined Hindustan Times, Lucknow edition, as part of the launch team in 1997. He’s covered everything from rural distress to science, environment, wildlife, and crime. He has travelled extensively in Uttar Pradesh for rural, development, political, and election reporting. His continued interest in rural issues, rural distress, and development journalism has fetched him a handful of prestigious awards and fellowships. Pankaj is a photojournalist too. He clinched the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting—First Prize in 2009 and Third Prize in 2006—for exposing Bundelkhand’s devastating drought and distress: crop failures, farm suicides, migration, debt, and the injustice of meagre compensation cheques between Rs 10 and Rs 20 to farmers by the government from crop loss. He also has been awarded with Hindustan Times internal 'Journalist of the Month' citation over half a dozen times. His relentless reporting in Hindustan Times pulled the Bundelkhand crisis out of obscurity and forced it into the national spotlight, prompting media and government action on one of India’s most neglected regions. Over a decade, he filed hundreds of hard-hitting stories, travelling repeatedly from Lucknow deep into Bundelkhand. He also received the Special Mention KC Kulish International Award 2009. Pankaj also did long-haul political reporting on the most intense political family feud—’The Yadav Family Feud’—between 2016 and 2022.
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Home/India News/Kapil Sibal files RS nomination with SP’s backing, says quit Congress last week
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