Can Kapil Sibal return to Rajya Sabha with SP backing: Here are the numbers

New Delhi, May 25: Kapil Sibal announced today that he had broken a three decade old relationship with the Congress. He said that he quit the Congress on May 16 itself and on Wednesday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha as an Independent candidate from Uttar Pradesh supported by the Samajwadi Party.

Sibal, whose exit from the Congress is another jolt for the electorally battered party, went to the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises to file his papers with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and other senior leaders.

Sibal's return to the Rajya Sabha is a given considering the Samajwadi Party has 111 MLAs in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh Assembly. With 111 MLAs, the SP can send three members to the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP on the other hand with 255 members in the UP assembly can send 8.

A prominent member of the G23, which had sought an organisational overhaul in the Congress, Sibal's tenure as Congress' Rajya Sabha MP ends in July, "I have filed the nomination as an Independent candidate. I thank Akhileshji for supporting me," Sibal told reporters in Lucknow.

Sibal, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Congress leadership, had called for a non-Gandhi as the new party chief.

Referring to the 2024 elections, he said there should be an atmosphere where the shortcomings of the Modi government can reach people.

Yadav said Sibal is being supported by the Samajwadi Party.

"Kapil Sibal is a senior leader and a known lawyer. He had been in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and put his point across well everywhere. I hope he will put his views on big questions of rising inflation and China", the SP president, who is also leader of opposition, added.