After a meeting over the poll debacle in five states on Wednesday, the group of 23 leaders of the Congress said the only way forward for the party was to adopt a model of “collective and inclusive leadership and decision making”. The meeting took place a day after party president Sonia Gandhi asked Congress chiefs of five states to step down and take responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the assembly elections. But dissenting voices within the grand old party have been growing stronger since the Congress Working Committee met and chose to retain its faith in Sonia Gandhi as the party president.
The G23 leaders have been at the forefront of registering their dissent and demanding an organisational overhaul. The group also invited new members whom they felt wanted to voice their concerns. Among them were Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor, senior leader Manishankar Aiyer and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, all of whom attended the meeting and were signatories to the final statement after the meeting.
The meeting took place at senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence in Delhi, following which the G23 released a statement. Leaders present at the meeting were Azad, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, PJ Kurian, Sandeep Dixit, Raj Babbar, Kuldeep Sharma, Rajender Kaur Bhattal, MA Khan and Vivek Tankha.
According to the statement, the G23 met to deliberate on the “demoralising” outcome of the assembly elections and the “constant exodus” of leaders and workers. The statement read, “We believe that the only way forward is for the Congress to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.”
The G23, in their statement, also hinted that the Congress should “initiate dialogue” with non-BJP parties to fight the BJP in the 2024 elections. “In order to oppose the BJP it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party. We demand the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other likeminded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024,” the statement further read.
As the G23 met to discuss poll results, and after Punjab MPs complained about what went wrong in the elections, Sonia appointed leaders in the five states to assess the reason behind the party’s defeat. Issued by general secretary KC Venugopal, the order stated that these leaders will be responsible for assessing the post-poll situation and suggest organisational changes by inviting inputs from MLAs and important leaders. Sonia has appointed leaders Rajani Patil for Goa, Jairam Ramesh for Manipur, Ajay Maken for Punjab, Jitendra Singh for Uttar Pradesh and Avinash Pandey for Uttarakhand.
Meanwhile, NCP leader Majeed Memon said the G23 claimed that they were not merely 23 but had gone up to about 100. He tweeted: “G-23 Congress leaders claim that they are not merely 23, but have now gone upto about 100. If party has announced no change in party leadership, it is feared that it is heading for yet another split.”
G-23 Congress leaders claim that they are not merely 23, but have now gone upto about 100. If party has announced no change in party leadership, it is feared that it is heading for yet another split.— Majeed Memon (@advmajeedmemon) March 16, 2022
Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the leadership had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party, provoking a backlash from Gandhi family loyalists who accused him of speaking the language of the BJP and RSS.
“Leadership is in cuckoo land I want a ‘Sab ki Congress’. Some want a ‘Ghar ki Congress’,” Sibal told The Indian Express in an interview.
The G23 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.
(With PTI inputs)
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