Uttar Pradesh: With a month left for the Rajya Sabha elections, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal dealt a blow to the Congress by announcing his resignation from the party on Wednesday.

He confirmed the same after filing his nomination to contest to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent backed by the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. He had recently met with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.

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Talking to the media, he said: "I had resigned from the party on May 16. It is imperative that the Parliament has independent voices. If an independent voice speaks up, the people will trust that it is not from any political party."

A Congress veteran, the 73-year-old Sibal was part of the G-23 group, which comprised 23 dissenters who called for a complete revamp of the party's leadership and organisaton.

Sibal was among the most vocal of critics when it came to the Gandhi family's leadership of the party, especially after the back-to-back poll drubbings the Congress suffered in recent times.

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