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G-23 leaders meet Congress chief amid signs of thaw
The meeting assumes importance as Sharma’s current term in the Rajya Sabha is coming to an end, though Congress leaders categorically denied that Sharma’s continuation in the Upper House was discussed at the meeting.
Senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari, both members of a group pushing for internal reforms, met party chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, underlining the growing engagement between the so-called G-23 and the party leadership. The meeting, which came days after Gandhi met Ghulam Nabi Azad, another G-23 member, happened in the context of the ongoing changes in the party organisation and the proposed revamp during internal elections due in August.
The meeting assumes importance as Sharma’s current term in the Rajya Sabha is coming to an end, though Congress leaders categorically denied that Sharma’s continuation in the Upper House was discussed at the meeting. But a party functionary added that at least one top G-23 leader will be accommodated in the Upper House from Rajasthan, where the Congress is expected to win two biennial seats this year.
While Sharma and Tewari are believed to have given concrete suggestions to strengthen the party organisation after the latest poll debacle, the mood of the meeting was conciliatory, said leaders aware of the details. “A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the first letter. It’s a constructive meeting to discuss the issues surrounding the recent poll debacle. We are working to strengthen the party organisation,” said a prominent G-23 leader.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala refused to comment on the developments.
But Congress functionaries indicated that more meetings are expected to take place between the G-23 and the Congress leadership. Last week, Azad’s meeting with Gandhi gave a clear signal that the rebel group wanted to keep the tussle over the leadership issue aside till after the organisation election. Azad announced “we will fight unitedly” in the upcoming elections after he offered suggestions on strengthening the party and preparing for the upcoming elections.
Azad recalled that Gandhi offered to step down in the Congress Working Committee meeting on March 14 but the top executive body asked her to continue. “There is no immediate question on the Congress leadership”, the party veteran said, adding that “she is president and we are all members of the party.”
But Azad indicated the leadership issue would arise during the organisational elections due in August this year. “When the organisation election takes place, then we will talk about the leadership. When organisation election takes place, the workers will decide who will be president,” Azad said.
Internal reform is a longstanding demand by members of the G-23, a group of 23 leaders who first came together in writing a letter to Gandhi in 2020 demanding party elections, but the dispute spilled out in the open after the party slumped to losses in the five state assembly polls that concluded recently. G-23 member Kapil Sibal openly criticised the party leadership even as Gandhi moved to revamp the party’s structure in the five states by asking the respective state unit chiefs to resign.
But since then, both sides appear to have softened their stances with Rahul Gandhi reaching out to key G-23 leaders last week, and members of the group soft-pedaling their demand for leadership change, at least for now.
