‘People come and go…’: Congress on senior leader Kapil Sibal’s resignation

Kapil Sibal is among the prominent faces that resigned from the Congress party this year. Congress has, meanwhile, refused to "blame" anyone for Sibal's exit.

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New Delhi: After Kapil Sibal on Wednesday (May 25) declared that he resigned from the grand old party on May 16, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said that "people come and go from our party", adding that he will not “blame” anyone for the senior leader’s exit. Sibal is among the five prominent faces that left the Sonia Gandhi-led party this year. A few days back in a major setback, senior Punjab politician Sunil Jakhar and Gujarat leader Hardik Patel resigned from Congress. 

Commenting on the former Union minister’s resignation, Venugopal said, "He had already written a letter to the Party President. The letter says that he firmly believed in the values of Congress. He said nothing else. Let him state his position. Then I can say. The resignation letter is of a very high standard. People come and go from our party. This is a big party. Some may be leaving the party. Some may go to other parties. I am not going to blame anybody who left the party. Congress has a vast space.” 

Sibal’s resignation comes in the backdrop of Congress’ recent 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur. The Congress General Secretary said that the grand old party will undergo a “comprehensive re-organization”, with every person being designated a task, ANI reported. 

Attacking the BJP-led Centre, Venugopal accused the government of using central agencies against the Opposition. "During this regime, the Central Government is using the CBI, intelligence and all other agencies to eliminate political opponents. They are working to eliminate other political parties by using vicious methods that have never been used by any government. It`s hard to survive. But we have confidence. The Congress has the strength to overcome this. The Congress also has leaders for that. There will be temporary setbacks here and there. We will study the problems. The party will be strengthened and taken forward brilliantly," he said. 

Announcing his exit from Congress, Sibal, after filing his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate backed by Akhilesh Yadav’s party, said earlier in the day, "I will not say anything about Congress. I have resigned. So it is not appropriate for me to say anything about Congress. It is not easy to leave a relationship of 30-31 years. In the past, only a few came to House by getting elected independently, especially in Rajya Sabha. I have got a big opportunity and it has been given to me by Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Azam Khan. I will raise the issues of the country in the House."

(With agency inputs)