After former Union minister Kapil Sibal publicly announced his decision to quit Congress after 30 years on Wednesday, party General Secretary KC Venugopal reacted saying that people come and go. “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. May some going to other parties. I am not going to blame anybody who left the party. Congress has a vast space,” Venugopal was quoted as saying by ANI.
Venugopal further told ANI that the party will be rebuilt from scratch, while pointing out that in the newly formed structure, everyone will be given a task and they have to act according to fresh guidelines that will soon be formed.
The top Congress leader said that the Grand Old Party was ready to overcome any challenge, especially the one posed by the central government and its agencies. He believed that despite momentary setbacks, the party will be “taken forward brilliantly”.
In a surprise announcement today, Kapil Sibal told reporters that he had already resigned from the Congress back on May 16, around the same time the Congress’ Chintan Shivir also concluded. After filing his nomination papers as an independent candidate supported by Samajwadi Party, Sibal told reporters, “I had a deep relationship with the Congress. It was for 30-31 years. This is not a small thing. I joined the Congress because of Rajivji (former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi). You must be thinking, how can one leave the Congress after 31 years. There must be something that my heart must feel. Sometimes, such decisions need to be taken. But my ideology is that of the Congress. I am not far away from the Congress and its ideology. I am with the sentiments of the party”.