Saying that he had resigned from the Congress last week, Kapil Sibal 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. 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. ”I resigned from the Congress on May 16 and am no longer a senior Congress leader,” he said. Sibal, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Congress leadership, had called for a non-Gandhi as the new party chief.