NEW DELHI: Amid fast-paced developments in the beleaguered Congress on Wednesday, its G-23 rebels advised the party leadership that the only way forward is to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.
The statement was issued after a dinner meeting at veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence.
The G-23 meeting was earlier scheduled to be held at Kapil Sibal’s house but was shifted at the last minute as leaders like ex-Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were not comfortable with his attack on the Gandhis.
Sibal is currently in the eye of a storm as he said upfront that the Gandhis should let someone else head the Congress.
The G-23 statement also demanded that the party leadership initiate talks with like-minded forces to build a credible alternative ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
“The next steps in this regard will be announced soon,” the statement jointly issued by 18 leaders said.
What was interesting about the gathering was the presence of Rajiv Gandhi loyalist Mani Shankar Aiyar. Other additions were Patiala MP Preneet Kaur and ex-Gujarat CM S S Vaghela. Old faces like Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Prithviraj Chavan, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Sandeep Dikshit were also present.
The dissidents had thrown the door open to those who were not part of G-23 but shared concerns about the party’s future. In Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi aggressively attacked social media giants for allegedly siding with the ruling BJP during the recent state elections.
Later in the day, she appointed senior leaders to assess the situation and suggest organisational changes in all the five states where Congress was routed.
A day earlier, she had sought the resignations of five PCC chiefs.
The newly appointed leaders are Jairam Ramesh (for Manipur), Ajay Maken (Punjab), Rajani Patil (Goa), Jitendra Singh (UP) and Avinash Pandey (Uttarakhand).
The G-23 saw some more leaders joining the dinner meeting at Azad's residence, which was convened to work out the grouping's future strategy and discuss the Congress's debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls in five states.
The meeting lasted for over four hours and all the leaders spoke about the strategy to be adopted.
Sources said Azad also spoke to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and conveyed to her the feelings of the grouping while assuring her of their support in strengthening the organisation.
Azad and Anand Sharma reposed faith in Gandhi's leadership at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday.
Incidentally, the grouping sidestepped the issue of leadership, after Kapil Sibal said Gandhi should step aside and pave the way for another leader.
The leaders said they met to deliberate on the demoralising outcome of the recent poll results and the constant exodus of party leaders and workers.
"We believe that the only way forward for the Congress is to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels."
"In order to oppose the BJP, it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party. We demand the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024," the joint statement of the G-23 said.
The next steps in this regard will be announced soon, it added.
Sources said the grouping had earlier planned a dinner at Sibal's residence, but it was changed at the last minute.
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 grouping had given an open invite to other Congressmen to join them at the dinner meeting.
The sources said the meeting was convened to apprise all the G-23 members of the decisions taken at the crucial CWC meet.
Two prominent G-23 members -- Azad and Sharma -- were to appraise the other members of the developments at the CWC meeting and what they said on strengthening the party in the wake of its drubbing in the Assembly polls, they said.
The performance of the Congress in these states was poor as it failed to win any of the four BJP-ruled states -- Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur -- while it lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The G-23 grouping has been critical of 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.
The decision to convene a meeting of the G-23 came a day after Gandhi sought the resignation of the Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.
Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the Congress leadership, had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party, provoking a backlash from the Gandhi family loyalists, who accused him of speaking the language of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The G-23 has, however, 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.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday engaged five senior leaders to assess the post-poll situation in five states and suggest organisational changes following its electoral debacle, a day after the state unit chiefs were asked to resign.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajani Patil has been asked to assess the situation in Goa, Jairam Ramesh in Manipur and Ajay Maken in Punjab, where the Congress lost power to the Aam Aadmi Party.
Congress leader Jitendra Singh will to asses the post-poll situation in Uttar Pradesh and suggest changes, while Avinash Pandey has been asked to do so in Uttarakhand.
"Congress president has appointed leaders to assess the post-poll situation and suggest organisational changes in the states (with inputs) from MLA candidates and important leaders with immediate effect," an official communication said.
The Congress fared poorly in the just-concluded assembly elections by failing to win back any of the BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and losing Punjab to the AAP.
The Congress Working Committee had discussed the reasons for the poll debacle and authorised Sonia Gandhi to initiate necessary changes in these states after the drubbing.
Gandhi Tuesday had asked the chiefs of its Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur units to submit their resignations.
(With PTI Inputs)