Biggies who said bye-bye to Congress in 2022 - in Pics

With Kapil Sibal quitting Congress, this is the fifth high-profile exit from the party this year. Prior to Sibal, former Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar had left the party only to join the BJP. RPN Singh, Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Patidar leader Hardik Patel were other high profile exits.

Deepening the crisis in Congress further, Kapil Sibal, a prominent face of the G-23 group of the dissenting leaders,  resigned from the party and filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent on Wednesday (May 25) in Lucknow backed by the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Sibal filed his nomination papers from Uttar Pradesh in the presence of the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and other party leaders in Lucknow. Sibal is retiring from the Rajya Sabha on July 4. "I had tendered my resignation from the Congress party on May 16," he said after filing the nomination. "I have filed nomination as an independent candidate. I have always wanted to be an independent voice in the country. While staying in Opposition, we want to create an alliance so that we can oppose the Modi government," he added.

Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel recently quit Congress and said that the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat will be a "one-sided" affair. The leader said that the outcome of the elections will be in favour of the BJP. He had hit out at the Congress party for its stance on hindutva issue and alleged that the Congress party is working to hurt the sentiments of the people.

Sunil Jakhar after joining the BJP had said that it was not easy to break 50 years of relationship with the Congress. "From 1972 to 2022, my three generations considered Congress as their family. Stood with the party in every good and bad time. But an attempt was made to suppress my nationalist voice in the Congress. I was given a notice for speaking in the interest of Punjab and the country," he said.

Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar was upset with the party leadership and parted ways saying, "I was feeling uncomfortable, helpless and ignored for the last many months and I understood that now I am not needed in the party. Therefore, I distanced myself. I was not able to do whatever I wanted to do by staying inside the party. That's why I decided to fulfill my duty and now I can do what I feel comfortable doing." He had predicted a loss for the Congress in Punjab.

RPN Singh, a former Union Minister and a former Congress heavyweight from Uttar Pradesh in January announced that he has joined the BJP and vowed to work under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda. Singh has been Congress party’s Jharkhand in-charge before he quit.