Kapil Sibal, an Independent Rajya Sabha MP and senior Supreme Court advocate, said he considers himself an “intellectual Naxal” and is willing to state it openly. He made the remarks at a seminar in Kochi, Kerala, titled “Horse-trading and Democracy.”
Sibal’s comment comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the Independence Day event at Delhi’s Red Fort, said armed Naxals had been eliminated but “intellectual Naxals” still remained. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram later cited the remark and said he was proud to be called an intellectual Naxal.
At the Kochi event, Sibal contrasted the older meaning of “horse-trading” with its use in today’s politics. He said it once referred to selling horses, where sellers employed certain tactics.
In the current political climate, he argued, the term has taken on a different dimension, referring to politicians buying MLAs after elections. Calling it an act that shakes the foundations of democracy, Sibal said such horse-trading is not merely political corruption but an ongoing pressure on the Constitution.
