Congress tries face saver post senior leader Kapil Sibal's exit; says, 'People come & go'

Downplaying senior leader Kapil Sibal's abrupt exit from the party after over 30 years of association, Congress said 'people come and go'. Addressing a press briefing, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that Sibal had written to the president of the grand-old party Sonia Gandhi, and highlighted how he still believed in the common principles. Venugopal further said that no blame would be attached to Sibal for leaving, as he took a moment to highlight how the party was on its way to being 're-built' after an intense three-day Chintan Shivir in Rajasthan this month to introspect on poll defeats. 

Sibal dumped the Vadra Congress party and filed his Rajya Sabha nomination on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav. Already a member of the Upper House of the Parliament, the lawyer's term ends in July. 

After taking everyone by surprise by filing the nomination on the SP ticket, Sibal said that he is no more a senior Congress leader as he tendered his resignation from Congress on May 16. "My resignation from Congress on May 16", he confirmed. "I am constrained by the fact that we are members of political parties, we have certain duties. But I think it is important to be an independent voice. When the voice of an independent will rise, people will believe that it is not the voice of any party," he said in his first response. 

Sibal's Tirade against Congress 

Sibal, an ace lawyer who has represented politicians across the spectrum and regularly appears in the biggest cases, was once among the senior-most leaders of the Congress and a top minister in the UPA government, famously being deployed. He was one of the leading figures in the G-23. As part of the conglomerate of leaders miffed with the Congress' current dispensation, Sibal had opined that the Gandhis should step aside from their leadership roles. He also contrasted 'Ghar ki Congress' with 'Sab ki Congress' and questioned the rationale behind formally elevating Rahul Gandhi as the Congress chief, citing that he is the de-facto president already. 

While there was much clamour surrounding the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in March, once again faith was reposed in the leadership of interim president Sonia Gandhi, despite the G23's opposition. The G23 had released a straightforward statement expressing their criticism while refraining from explicitly criticising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.