English
New Delhi: The core group of Congress’s dissidents, popularly known as G-23 (now G-22, with the exit of Jitin Prasad from the party) is likely to meet again at the residence of the senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday evening — their second gathering in 24 hours, NDTV reported quoting sources. The meeting comes after senior party leader Rahul Gandhi reached out to the party’s “rebel” group through former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is also a G-23 member.
On Wednesday, 18 leaders — a mix of dissidents and ‘newcomers’ from six states — met to discuss the way forward after the party’s latest poll debacle in five states.
After the meeting yesterday, the leaders in a statement said the only way forward for the grand old party is to adopt a model of “collective and inclusive” leadership and decision making at all levels. They also urged the Congress leadership to initiate talks with like-minded forces to create a way for a credible alternative to the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
NDTV sources said the leaders had decided against splitting from the party at present. The reasoning was that given its weak state, it might altogether crumble.
The G-23 has got weakened over time with senior leader M Veerappa Moily distancing himself from the group, Jitin Prasada joining the BJP and Mukul Wasnik not attending its meetings in recent times.
However, yesterday’s meeting saw some more leaders joining group at Azad’s residence to work out the grouping’s future strategy and discuss the Congress’s debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls. Among the leaders who attended the meeting were Sibal, Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Sandeep Dikshit.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping widened this time as some more leaders — Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurian and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma joined the dinner meeting, besides MA Khan.
The G-23 grouping has been critical of the Congress leadership. It has been demanding an organisational overhaul, after its members wrote a joint letter to Gandhi in 2020.
The sources said invitations were also extended to the Congressmen who do not constitute the bloc but feel that changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive the party’s electoral fortunes.
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