Thackeray lawyer Sibal’s arrival creates a minor flutter at INDIA meet

Mumbai, Sep 1 : Shiv Sena-UBT President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s lawyer and former Congress leader Kapil Sibal created a flutter of sorts when he sauntered in "uninvited" to the INDIA bloc meeting here on Friday.

While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Working President Supriya Sule was seen greeting Sibal - an independent Rajya Sabha MP after he quit Congress in May 2022 - courteously, several Congress leaders were apparently irked and feeling awkward by his presence.

While senior Congress leader K.C.Venugopal expressed his displeasure to Thackeray – the host of the Mumbai INDIA Conclave – and Sanjay Raut, some unidentified persons allegedly wanted to summon the security to escort Sibal away from the venue, just before the national Opposition leaders were scheduled to line up for a photo-shoot.

However, other Sena-UBT leaders mollified Venugopal to avert a delicate situation, and some other opposition leaders including from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and National Conferences Omar Abdullah tried to persuade the gathering to allow the acclaimed legal eagle to attend the deliberations.

However, matter was resolved ambicly after former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asserted that he has no problems with any leaders who is joining the alliance.

Subsequently, there were posts of Sibal – who contested as independent for the RS supported by Samajwadi Party – even attending the photo-session though he was positioned away from top Congress leaders.

Sibal has represented Thackeray and his Sena-UBT in the Supreme Court since the past over a year after the party split in June 2022.