THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Apart from Shashi Tharoor, MP, one more Congress leader from the state attended the G -23 dinner meet held at Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence in New Delhi. Veteran leader PJ Kurien also joined the meeting on Wednesday night. Both these leaders have been urging for change in leadership and urgent steps to make the party vibrant for the last few months.
The dinner meeting held under the aegis of senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad happened after Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs in five states to put in their papers following the severe drubbing in the assembly elections.
Tharoor attending the G-23 meeting was on expected lines. But the entry of veteran Congress leader Kurien has caught the leadership unawares. 80-year-old Kurien was a former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman, also a six-term Lok Sabha MP and a two-term Rajya Sabha MP. Prior to G -23 meeting, Kurien told reporters in New Delhi that there is no harm in an outsider from the Gandhi family becoming Congress president. A leader close to Kurien told TNIE that he has no qualms to blurt out corrective measures in the party for the simple reason of being a seasoned politician.