Several G23 leaders likely to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over the weekend

NEW DELHI,MARCH 18: In a bid to give it an institutional shape, a number of leaders from ‘G23’, or the Congress ‘rebels’, might meet party president Sonia Gandhi, instead of former union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s exclusive meeting. They also plan to meet former Rahul Gandhi, a day after former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda met him.

Both the G23 and the Congress leadership are keen to engage, and Sonia and Rahul had called Azad and Hooda, respectively. The meeting between G23 and the Congress president is expected to take place over the weekend.

According to one G23 leader, they will continue to press for “inclusive and collective leadership” at all levels of the Congress, a demand they raised in their meeting on Wednesday. They have also asked the party leadership to talk to like-minded forces.

Former G23 leader Veerappa Moily on Friday hit out at the rebel group and said, “Just because we’re not in power, Congress leaders or workers should not panic. BJP and other parties are transit passengers…they’ll come and go…it’s the Congress that’ll remain here. We should be committed to the downtrodden and need not lose hope.”

“Sonia Gandhi wants reforms within the Congress party but people around her have sabotaged it. G23 leaders are targeting the senior leader and weakening the Congress party. The BJP cannot be a perennial party and it will not stand the turmoil of politics after Modi,” he added.

In the meeting at Azad’s place, One of the G23 leaders later said, “Five former chief ministers and at least 8-10 union ministers have all met. They are all adding up now. Everyone in the G23 just want to strengthen the party but the problem is no one wants to listen.”

Another leader added that the Punjab situation came up during their discussions and many leaders paid little heed to the recent announcements of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “Punjab MPs mentioned how desperate it was during the polls. One of the Punjab leaders mentioned that they tried to warn Sonia Gandhi about the appointment of Sidhu but she refused to see them.”

A Punjab leader said Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress chief without consultations. “It’s like the children are pushing us away,’’ said another leader.

The G23 leaders were dismissive about the announcement to appoint senior leaders to suggest organisational changes, pointing out that some of them were involved in the poll and are responsible for the debacle. “Even when they set up committees today to handle post polls, its the same names like Jairam Ramesh, Avinash Pandey, Ajay Maken and Jitendra Singh,” one G23 leader quipped.

-HT