On Friday, September 1, the leaders of the opposition’s I.N.D.I.A. bloc gathered in Mumbai’s Hyatt Hotel on the second day of the two-day mega meeting, but it turned out to be nothing less than a thrilling Bollywood drama movie. According to reports, former Congress supporter Kapil Sibal showed up at the meeting ‘uninvited’, attracting the wrath of his ex-colleagues present there.
A video from the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai where leaders of the so-called alliance gathered ahead of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting, showed senior Congress leader KC Venugopal complaining about Sibal’s presence to ex-Maharashtra minister Uddhav Thackeray before a photo op of opposition leaders. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena UBT is hosting the INDIA bloc meeting.
Visuals of Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, NCP working president Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai ahead of the INDIA alliance meeting. pic.twitter.com/vNIZshXMlz
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 1, 2023
As can be seen in the video shared by news agency PTI, as soon as Kapil Sibal enters the premises, he is greeted by NCP working president Supriya Sule. Right at that moment, someone from the background can be heard calling out to the security personnel in an irate tone. Further, the same voice can be heard saying, “Isko bhagao yaar” (someone shoo him away).
Just then, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut are seen talking to Congress leader KC Venugopal. Although they are not audible in the video, it is clear from their body language that the other two Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are attempting to calm Venugopal down while he is complaining to them about Sibal’s unexpected appearance.
Reportedly, Farooq Abdullah, the chairman of the National Conference, and Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, tried to step in and convince Venugopal to allow Sibal to attend a meeting intended to bring together all opposition figures ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election that will take place next year.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, expressed no objection to Kapil Sibal’s presence in the meeting.
Meanwhile, India Today shared a video of a photo op, where Kapil Sibal was seen posing on the dias with other leaders of the so-called alliance. However, he was seen positioned directly across from Congress bigwigs Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.
Notably, Kapil Sibal quit the Congress to join the Samajwadi Party in May last year. While filing the Rajya Sabha nomination in the presence of SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Sibal said that he had resigned from the Congress party on May 16.
Sibal had reportedly developed close relationships with many SP leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan. He recently represented jailed Khan in the Supreme Court and helped him secure interim bail. He also helped Akhilesh Yadav retain the party’s bicycle symbol in the year 2017. On May 20, as Khan was released on interim bail from Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur jail, he had said that Sibal had done a huge thing by securing bail and that he had no capacity to pay him the fees.
Tensions between Kapil Sibal and the Congress Party
It is important to note that there were escalating tensions between the former Congress leader and the party. He had been vocal against the policies and principles adopted by the Gandhi family for the Congress party. On September 29, 2021, Congress party members staged a protest against him for criticising the party leadership over various issues including the handling of the internal conflict in the party in Punjab. The party workers had accused him of allying with BJP for his statements against the Gandhi family.
Sibal had also stated that the G-23 group within the Congress party was not Ji Huzoor 23. Criticising the delay in appointing a full-time party president, Sibal had said, “In our party, there is no president. So we don’t know who is making these decisions. We know and yet we don’t know.”
Also, last year on March 15, after losing the hope of revival, the senior leader demanded to give control of the Congress party to someone other than Gandhis. He had said that the party was ‘sab ki Congress’ and not only ‘Ghar ki Congress’. Sibal had further said that there was no decentralization of the power in Congress. “They don’t have direct contact with them. In this power structure, therefore, the organization is bereft of any vision,” he had said. The senior leader therefore quit the party on May 16, 2022.
However, before the fallout, Kapil Sibal was considered to be a staunch loyalist of the Gandhi scions. He has, in fact, represented Rahul and Sonia Gandhi and the Congress in various legal battles. Since he had been in Congress for a long time and had handled many important ministries in the previous UPA governments.
