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Ghulam Nabi Azad meeting Sonia Gandhi is a good sign, says Mallikarjun Kharge
Mallikarjun Kharge said Ghulam Nabi Azad in with the party for years and knows everything. His meeting with Sonia Gandhi for strengthening the party is a welcome move, he said.
Days after accusing G-23 leaders of attempting to break the Congress, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said Ghulam Nabi Azad meeting Sonia Gandhi is a welcome move as Azad said he wants to strengthen the party.
"Ghulam Nabi Azad has been in the party for years. He knows everything, so he talked to signatories there. He met Sonia Gandhi. He has spoken about keeping the party together. It's a good sign. He said that he wants to strengthen the party. It is a welcome stand," Kharge said a day after Ghulam Nabi Azad met Sonia Gandhi.
"We have always wanted that everyone should come together to strengthen the party. We are all responsible. Only taking the name of the Gandhi family is not right. Many people said that at the Congress Working Committee meet," Kharge said.
The frequent meeting of the G-23 leaders, a group of Congress leaders who have been termed as rebels for pitching for reforms on the party, has stoked a row in the party, in the aftermath of the party's poor show in the five assembly elections.
The Congress Working Committee held a meeting to deliberate on the recent drubbing of the party in elections where the party has urged Sonia Gandhi to lead the party from the front. Sonia Gandhi fired Congress chiefs of the five states, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
The group of 23 leaders meanwhile met a few times after the election results were declared. On Friday, Ghulam Nabi Azad met Sonia Gandhi and gave some suggestions to strengthen the party.
"There is no question of leadership (change). When Mrs Gandhi had offered (to quit) at the CWC, then all of us asked her to continue. There will be a discussion on that when the elections take place in the party," Azad said after the meeting.
The G-23 has reiterated that they do not want to undermine the party in any way, but want to strengthen it. In a statement, the group said, "The only way forward for the Congress was to adopt a model of inclusive and collective leadership and decision-making at all levels."
